The Twin
by Arivania Moons
Summary: Mariel figured there was more to life than simply fending off bullies from her brother. She just didn't expect it to come from her brother's new, beat-up Camaro. Now stuck between new alien friends and the government, Mariel can only hope to find a silver lining at the end of the storm. But why, oh why did Sam have to be involved? [Rated for violence and cussing]
1. Chapter One: The Camaro

**Edit: All I did was fix some mistakes that were made (grammar, spelling, etc.).**

 **Well... I am extremely pissed at myself right now... I thought I had updated _The Twin_ with chapter one... But apparently not. I have chapter two all written out and ready to go, but only the prologue is fucking posted. I am so, so, so sorry you guys. I honestly thought that I had updated _The Twin_ with chapter one already... I am so, so sorry... *bashes head on wall* I'm so stupid... I should have double checked before I erased my work to work on chapter two...**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, own my OC, Mariel Janet Witwicky. I also own my OC, Jasmine "Yomi" Pierce, who will only be mentioned in this chapter.**

 **REVIEWS**

 **monkeybaby: I'm glad that you appear interested in my story. The Prologue will not appear to have any relevance to the story for some time, but I promise that it is relevant.**

 **TFSTARFIRE: I'm glad you have such faith in my story. *smiles***

 **bajy: Glad you think so! *smiles***

 **KEY**

"Talking."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _"Radio-clips"_

 _Thoughts/Dream/Flashback_ (If it's a dream or a flashback, I will also ensure that you all know)

 _"Phone."_

* * *

Seventeen-year-old Mariel Janet Witwicky was doing her best to pay attention in class, though it was hard because today their teacher had decided to do a lecture. It was very, very boring and Mariel just wanted to tune out her teacher or fall asleep. Especially since this was supposed to be her "fun" class as it was normally her favorite, given that it was a literacy class. Mariel had a love for books, so she always looked forward to this class. She knew that all the students in the class with her were relieved she enjoyed it so much, as it meant she didn't cause any trouble during class. It was the only class that never assigned Mariel detention, although most teachers were afraid to assign her detention anyways.

The entire class knew Mariel's reputation, so none of them dared to talk bad about her. Especially with the fact that she could easily hack their accounts to make them look like idiots, though no one could _prove_ it was the Witwicky girl. That's why most everyone was terrified of her, especially since, despite not being the strongest or the fittest, she could hold her own in a fight. This was mainly because bullies tended to take one look at her thin, boney frame and believe that she was a weakling. She may not be stronger, but she's usually smarter than the person who challenges her. This fact was learned when she was a freshman, as she and the school bully, Trent DeMarco, got into a fight in the computer lab. She beat him by simply allowing him to throw himself into the computers, constantly side stepping him. She got hit a few times and landed a few of her own hits, but other than that she had mainly avoided him and let him hurt himself.

She was still banned from the computer lab after that incident. There were rumors going around about her having technokinesis, the ability to manipulate technology. This was because the computers had shorted out during the fight, but Mariel herself called it a load of bull. Sure, anything technological shorted out when she got in a fight, but then people usually ran into the stuff so there was a rational explanation. Besides, Mariel didn't believe in magic.

"Mariel, do you care to repeat what I just said?" her teacher suddenly asked, drawing the girl's attention.

Mariel sighed, knowing he would use it as an excuse to put her in detention. So, she repeated what she remembered hearing. Seeing his look, she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I cannot repeat it word for word, Mr. McCoy. It is physically impossible for someone to repeat a speech word for word, paying attention or not, because the human mind is faulty and sometimes our hearing causes us to hear something different than what was said," she informed her teacher. "Therefore, my missing of a few things is no reason to give me detention. Unless, of course, you want me to take the matter up with the principle?"

That shut her teacher up, allowing the girl to return her gaze to the window. As her teacher continued with his lecture, something caught Mariel's eye. There were two cars parked right outside the school. She knew for a fact that they weren't any students- for one, most of the kids were rather rich that went to Tranquility High, and therefore would never be caught dead driving such a beat-up Camaro. The other car was a police car.

 _Wonder why they're parked there,_ she thought. _Did the Camaro driver get in trouble? Wait, that doesn't make sense. The Police Car would be gone, or I'd see both drivers..._

Mariel frowned as she watched the two cars. She blinked when the bell suddenly rang, catching her off guard slightly. She turned her attention to the room, noticing people were starting to leave. She grabbed her backpack from the floor and slipped it on, leaving the classroom. She walked towards her brother's final glass- Geneology. She didn't understand what possessed him to take that class as she walked towards it. She leaned against the wall, humming to herself slightly. She wondered if her brother managed to get that final A he needed, though she knew he'd have to use what she taught to get it. She didn't understand his obsession with selling their great-grandfather's stuff. Sure, it was junk, but the stuff was also antique. Unfortunately, her brother didn't take business, so he didn't understand that.

It took around twenty minutes before Samuel James Witwicky left the room, looking excited.

"Mari! Mari! I got the A!" he said, practically bouncing on his feet, causing his sister to smirk.

"Oh really, Sammy?" she asked. "What'd ya' have to do to get it after haggling Great-Grandfather's things?"

"What makes you think I had to do anything?" he asked, pausing to glare at his sister.

"Oh, no reason," she said with an innocent smile. "Except for the fact you asked me for blackmail techniques and what kind of dirt I had on Mr. Hosney."

"... You're a real bitch, you know?" Sam asked his sister, giving her an unimpressed look. "But fine, I had to appeal to his Christianity to get an A minus instead of a B minus."

Mariel smirked at her brother, "That's what I thought, Sammy."

Sam rolled his eyes before the two headed out of the school. Sam perked up when he saw their father's green convertible and practically flying down to tell him about his A, causing Mariel to snort. Despite their arguments and mean pranks, Sam was a Daddy's Boy through and through. She knew her brother would never admit this, but she also knew that it was the truth. She strolled down to the car calmly, smiling a bit as Sam waved his hands while speaking, despite their father, Ronald "Ron" Witwicky, being unable to read the paper because of it. She walked down and hoped over the side of the car to sit comfortably in the backseat. It was her brother's big day, so she wouldn't force him out of the front seat like she usually did just to annoy him.

"Yeah, you're good," Ron was saying as she buckled up.

The car was started up before they were on their way. Mariel was happy that her brother was finally getting a car like he wanted, though she wasn't allowed to get one until she passed her Driver's Test, which she kept failing. It wasn't her fault she was an... Aggressive driver. She got it from their mother, Judith "Judy" Witwicky, who was a very eccentric, very aggressive woman. It was why most people were wary of the twins, their mother's temper and insanity was legendary. Insanity apparently ran in the family, which was why Mariel didn't think much about why things short-circuited when she got extremely angry around them.

"No, Dad, no! You've got to be joking!" Sam's elated voice brought Mariel out of her thoughts.

Glancing around, she noticed they were in a Porsche Dealership, confusing her. Her dad was extremely cheap and told them that he wasn't going over four thousand dollars- though he did say that he'd allow a five-thousand-dollar car since she offered to hand over the last thousand in cash if Sam really, _really_ wanted the car. Therefore, she was confused at why they were in a Porsche Dealership. At least, until her father replied.

"Yeah, I am," Ron said, chuckling. "You're not getting a Porsche for your first car!"

"That's not funny, Dad. That's not funny," Sam growled, glaring at Ron.

"It was kind of funny," Ron replied, still chuckling.

"Sorry, Dad, but Sammy's kind of right," Mariel said. "I mean, you got his hopes up before crushing them."

"You two do worse jokes and pranks," Ron pointed out to his daughter.

"Touché," Mariel replied.

When they arrived at the Dealership, Mariel hopped out at once. _Bobby Bolivia's Used Cars and... Petting Zoo...?_ Mariel read, her brow furrowing as she glanced towards the Ostrich. _... He_ does _know how dangerous those things are, right?_ Shaking her head and leaving her brother and father to deal with the probably mental owner, Mariel started to check out the cars. She had a feeling her father would bring her here for her first car too, so she figured she should get a feel for what kind of cars he was selling. That's when a certain car caught her eye. _There's no way._

It was. Sitting before her innocently was the same Camaro she saw at her school, sitting there like it hadn't moved. A sudden chill went down her spine, especially since she knew her brother was a sucker for racing stripes. The faded yellow paint, rusted bumper, and random dents wouldn't deter her brother from buying the car. Especially if he thought it would score him a date with his crush, Mikaela Banes, the girlfriend of Trent and school hotgirl. Lightly, she ran a hand over the hood of the two-door, 1900s Camaro. She felt an odd tremor under her hand but ignored it, writing it off as nothing. She looked to see what kind of car it was exactly.

"Chevrolet Camaro Z28, huh?" she murmured as she looked at the brands on the car.

Like everything else, they were faded and/or rusted. She was amazed that the wheels themselves didn't appear to have any problems, though the caked mud and dust suggested some off-roading happened with the car. It was in better condition than any other car in the lot, which amazed her, further cementing that there was something not right about the car. She narrowed her eyes at it.

"I swear if you cause my brother any trouble..." she growled under her breath as she glared at the car, as if _daring_ it to be haunted.

She felt satisfied when she thought the car shook a little in fear. She knew she was probably just imagining things, but she always took pleasure in using her over-active imagination. It gave her an odd sense of pride to have inanimate objects afraid of her, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with that, of course. It was her brother who was the weirdo-spaz. She was perfectly normal and sane- all she inherited was her mother's road rage.

She'd flay anyone who dared to say otherwise.

"Mariel!"

The seventeen-year-old glanced towards where she heard her voice being called. It was her brother, who looked like he wanted to say something. Then he saw the car and, just like she thought, he began to drool all over it. She knew he was a closet mechanic and found it hilarious, although she kept it quiet. Her brother threatened to tell the world she was bisexual if she didn't, so she kept her mouth shut. He was catching on, which made her extremely proud. She liked to think she'd corrupted her brother.

"I can't believe it! _Racing stripes_!" her brother practically squealed, causing her to give him an amused look.

"Got a guess on what year it is?" she asked.

"Probably somewhere from 1975 to 1979," Sam said. "A classic! It's absolutely _beautiful_!"

Mariel couldn't help but laugh at him as he drooled over the car, rattling off trivia about it. She watched as he slid into the driver's seat, then noticed that Bolivia and her father were coming their way. She hung back as they talked about the car, frowning as Bolivia seemed to know very little about the car. This just cemented what she already suspected- there was something off about the car. When Bolivia named five thousand for the car, looking unwilling to lower the price, she spoke before her father could.

"We'll take it," she said, knowing her brother was in love with the car.

Ron took this as she'd hand over the last thousand. The three went inside to finalize everything, where it was revealed that Bolivia only took cash. Luckily, they had been planning on paying in cash. When Bolivia tried to scam them, she gave him a scathing glare that made him rethink that. When everything was done sometime later, Mariel opted to ride with her brother.

"Thanks for this, Sis," Sam told his sister with a bright smile. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"I can guess," Mariel replied as she slid into the passenger seat.

She noticed the look on Sam's face and felt dread pooling in her stomach. _I swear if he makes me go to Trent's stupid party at the lake..._ she thought as the two started driving home. _I am so glad that it's only 4 o'clock._

* * *

 **FINALLY DONE! This took _days_ to complete! I plan to put the second chapter up _immediately_ after this, though after updating the author's note at the beginning and end!**

 **Mariel: Took ya' long enough.**

 **SHUT UP! Do you know how hard it was for me to get motivation, inspiration, and over my anger at myself to rewrite this chapter?! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I HAD TO EVEN REWRITE IT AT ALL! *starts crying in frustration at self***

 **Mariel: *watches* ... *looks to readers* Please review. I think that it'll make her stop crying. *turns back to Aria* ... Crybaby...**


	2. Chapter Two: The Lake

**Edit: I changed the Author's Notes since they have outdated information that is no longer relevant, and I was doing this editing. Also, nothing beyond some mistakes was changed here.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not, and never will, own _Transformers_! I only own my OCs, Mariel Janet Witwicky and Jasmine "Yomi" Pierce, along with the plot!**

 **Note: Mariel was formerly known as Mariel Samantha Witwicky, but I chose to change her middle name.**

 **KEY**

"Talking."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _"Radio-clips"_

 _Thoughts/Dream/Flashback_ (If it's a dream or a flashback, I will also ensure that you all know)

 _"Phone."_

* * *

Mariel was glaring at the passenger seat in front of her, agitated about losing it to Sam's best friend, Miles Lancaster. She was always second fiddle to the boy when it came to things like this, something Mariel hated. She was Sam's sister and family should come before friends. Had Miles been Sam's boyfriend, she wouldn't have minded it so much. Unfortunately, sisters played second fiddle to best friends it seemed. She still couldn't believe that she'd even agreed to come along with Sam to the Lake Party in the first place, though she planned to abandon the boys immediately as payback.

 _I'm so glad that I remembered that today was Friday,_ Mariel thought. _Since Yomi will be there, I can ditch Sam and win the bet I coerced him into earlier this week._

Mariel smirked at the thought of the bet she had made with Sam on Monday. The bet was that she did Sam's chores for a week if Sam managed to get Mikaela to go on a date with him and vice versa if she got Yomi to go on a date with her. She was bound and determined to beat Sam at _something_ for once in their lives since he was always beating her at things. Getting a car, playing chess, making a friend, etc. Heck, he even admitted to being bisexual before she did. Her thoughts shifted to Miles once again and her glare ceased as she remembered that she blackmailed him into getting information on what Yomi did after school.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have done that... He was so excited when he learned that Sam was bisexual,_ Mariel thought guiltily, _all he wants is for my brother to notice him..._

Mariel glanced at her duffle bag that held her swim gear, dry clothes, and a towel. She was wearing her one-piece swimming suit under her normal clothes, planning on swimming for a little bit. Perhaps she'd wait to approach Yomi and swim for a bit, then approach Yomi. She was a little nervous, but in case she ran into Yomi before she got into the water, she was wearing her best clothes. A pair of faded blue jeans that were those tight kinds along with a snugly fitting bright blue top that had sleeves that came down around three inches above her elbows. Perhaps not the best clothing to impress someone, but they were the best clothes in comparison to what else Mariel had. She just hoped that Sam didn't ruin this for her.

With a sigh, the brunette looked out the window of the car. If Mariel focused hard enough, she could make out her reflection in the window. Faded medium brown hair that framed white skin and ocean blue eyes. Her hair was shoulder-blade length, though just barely above being around mid-back length. Mariel's hair was lighter than her brother's, though she believed that that came from the fact that their mother had auburn colored hair that appeared mostly red.

"Hey," Miles suddenly said, catching Mariel's attention. "Doesn't your guys' dad have brown eyes? How come you both have blue eyes if that's the recessive gene?"

"Miles, there's an unspoken universal rule that a child can have one parent's eyes color and the other's hair color, not both from one parent," Mariel responded, rolling her eyes.

There was silent for a few minutes before Miles seemed to register that she was being sarcastic.

"You don't know, do you?"

"Now _what_ on Earth gave you _that_ idea?" Mariel asked.

"Mari, please stop acting like a bitch to Miles," Sam interrupted. "And Miles, just ignore her. She's just a little upset that she's coming along to watch me win over Mikaela, meaning she'll have to do my chores for a week."

"Hah. There's about the same chance that you'll _ever_ get Mikaela to go out with you as there is of me screaming that I'm bisexual at the top of my lungs on the school's roof," Mariel snorted.

"Wanna bet?" Sam challenged.

"No, because there's no way in hell I'm risking actually doing that," Mariel shot back.

Miles stared at his friend before glancing back to Mariel. He then shook his head, glad once more that he didn't have a sibling. He didn't know how Sam could stand Mariel, especially with habit of blackmailing people all the time. He still hadn't forgiven her for blackmailing him into telling her about the fact that Yomi went to the gym on Tuesday, hiking on Sunday, and swimming on Friday. He understood she had a crush on the girl, but, in Miles' opinion, Mariel had turned into somewhat of a stalker.

 _I wish I knew what Jasmine sees in Mariel,_ Miles thought as the twins continued to bicker. _But that's Jasmine's business, not mine. At least Mariel has kept her word about not telling anyone about the fact that I have a huge crush on Sam..._

When at last the trio arrived at the lake, Mariel was the second one out of the car, as she popped out after Sam got out. She had her duffle bag all ready, ignoring how her brother asked Miles if he looked okay. She started heading down towards the lake when Sam called out to her.

"Mariel, where are you going?"

"Good luck, Sam!" she called over her shoulder. "I'm going to go swim!"

She smirked at his cry of disbelief at the fact she had just abandoned him to let Miles embarrass him. She wasn't worried about Trent, especially since she knew that Mikaela couldn't stand bullying. Despite her dislike of Mikaela, Mariel still respected the fact that Mikaela was willing to stand up for people when they were being bullied. So, Mariel felt comfortable leaving her little brother alone for a little while.

Mariel began to set up her area when she found a good spot. She laid out her towel and then started to get out of her clothes, glad she had chosen to just wear her swim suit underneath her clothes. The swim suit itself was a bright blue, though a little darker shade than her shirt and pants. It wasn't anything fancy and was rather conservative, though it still hugged her average curves like all swimsuits tended to do.

"I had a feeling that I would be seeing you today," a voice, feminine and slightly higher in pitch than Mariel's voice.

Mariel whirled around, half-way out of her pants to come face to face with dark hazel eyes. Mariel couldn't help but blush in embarrassment at how she looked with her pants half-way off and hurriedly finished scrambling out of them.

"Y-you did?" Mariel asked, cursing herself for stuttering. It couldn't be helped, however, since she had been caught off guard by the young woman before her.

Yomi had tanned skin, though it wasn't too deep a tan, and short black hair. Yomi's hair was styled in a pixie cut, something that made Mariel blush a bit more. To anyone, it was clear that Yomi worked out as she had a toned stomach and arms, the muscles rather easy to see even though Yomi was rather lean. Yomi stood around two inches taller than Mariel, making her closer to around six feet.

"Yes. I've noticed that, for the past three weeks, you've shown up at the gym when I'm there along with showing up when I go hiking. You usually stay a good distance away and arrive around an hour after I do, but you're also pretty close," Yomi said. "I probably wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for the fact that it only started three weeks ago on Sunday. This is the first time you've shown up at the lake while I'm here, but I'm guessing that you needed an excuse to show up and your brother coming here to see Mikaela is a good excuse."

Mariel felt her face burning even more at how much Yomi had noticed. She hadn't known just how observant the girl was and didn't know what to say now.

"I'm rather curious as to why one of the infamous Witwicky Twins has taken an interest in me," Yomi said. "And I know that it's me, because I have caught you staring at me at school a few times."

""Infamous" Witwicky Twins?" Mariel asked, brow furrowing at the name. She hadn't heard it before.

"Oh? You didn't know you and your brother had been given nicknames at school?" Yomi asked, blinking.

"No," Mariel replied honestly. "Um, what exactly do they call us individually?"

"Sam Witwicky is referred to as the "Spastic Fanatic". Not sure where that last part comes from- probably his little obsession with Mikaela. As for you, most call you "Computer Bane" or "Hell Hacker"," Yomi said. "The first part is from the incident in that computer lab while the last one is because people who mess with you end up getting their secrets spread around or you blackmail them."

"I don't spread secrets around," Mariel said, "I just blackmail them."

"Yes, well, you've become infamous for it," Yomi replied.

"I didn't realize so many people knew about what I did," she muttered, shifting a little awkwardly.

"Well, they do, and that's what makes me curious about you. Your brother is your life from what I heard about why you blackmail others and yet you've taken time to stalk me somewhat," Yomi said.

"I didn't mean to stalk," Mariel said, looking down. "I just didn't know how to talk to you..."

"You know, it's a little ironic that the Jigoku no hakkā is being shy when she's usually very vocal," Yomi chuckled.

Mariel blinked. "Jigoku no hakkā?" she asked, not familiar with the phrase.

"It's Japanese," Yomi explained. "It means "hacker of hell"."

"You know Japanese," Mariel asked, surprised.

"I should. I moved here from Japan when I was around eight years old," Yomi said with a smirk.

"Wow... I've lived here my whole life..." Mariel said with wonder.

"Tell you what," Yomi said suddenly, "Tell your brother that you have a ride home. We can talk more over dinner and a movie."

Mariel stared at Yomi as she tried to register what she just heard. "Did you just-"

"Ask you to go on a date with me? Yes. Yes, I did."

"Okay... Just... Give me a moment," Mariel said, nodding very quickly. She turned, scanning the top for her brother. She noticed that his car was already gone and rolled her eyes. She grabbed her phone from her pants pocket and quickly scrolled to her brother's number and dialed.

"Sam?"

 _"Mariel? Crap! Sorry, I completely forgot you were with me and Miles! I promise I'll come get you after I drop Mikaela off at her house!"_

"One, did she agree to go on a date with you?"

 _"No. Why?"_

"You're doing my chores for a week. Two, don't ever forget me again. Three, I'll be home around elven. Let Mom and Dad know."

 _"WHAT?! How did-"_

Mariel smirked as she hung up on her brother and stashed her phone in her duffle bag. She then looked at Yomi nervously, smiling a little bit. "Um... I was thinking we could still swim for a bit," she said.

"Of course," Yomi said with a grin. "Glad that you agreed. I was a little nervous that you might start laughing at me. But at least that answers my theory about the fact that you've been following me around because you wanted to date me. Honestly, Miles now owes me twenty bucks. He thinks that you wanted to hurt me or something, but I told him you were probably bi and wanted a date."

"I've gone out of my way to hide the fact that I'm bisexual," Mariel admitted.

"Since you said that your brother has to do your chores for a week, I'm guessing that you betted on who can get a date with their crush first?" Yomi guessed.

Mariel nodded before a thought crossed her mind as the two walked towards the water. "You know my name, but I don't know your real name," Mariel said. "Is it alright if I know yours?"

"Of course. Considering you just agreed to be my girlfriend and go on a date with me, I'd say you have the right to know," Yomi replied, smirking slightly when Mariel blushed again. "I'm still amazed that Little Miss Blackmail can blush. Anyways, my real name is Jasmine Pierce. The only other person who knows this fact besides you, the legal people, and my parents is Miles. He's been a good friend to me."

"Jasmine," Mariel repeated softly, testing the name. "I like it. It's a good name."

"Yeah. My parents had our names legally changed to American names when we came to the states. I still haven't gotten them to crack on what my birth name was."

"Why won't they tell you?"

By now, the girls were in the water, lightly treading it as they were just barely out of reach of the ground. Mariel was genuinely curious about the oh-so mysterious Jasmine "Yomi" Pierce. Not many people knew anything about her, though it seemed everyone knew everything about the Witwicky Twins. That was something that slightly irked Mariel, as she didn't like people knowing every little thing about her- her parents' habit of prying into her life was annoying enough in her opinion.

"I'm not really sure," Yomi replied. "I don't think they're running from anything, though I suppose that could be the case. It's a little weird, but I've been learning to accept that they don't want to tell me for whatever reason."

Mariel nodded, thinking as she and Yomi sat there, slowly treading the water to keep their heads above the surface level. She was startled when Yomi suddenly went under and looked around in confusion. She yelped in shock when something grabbed onto her leg, pulling her under soon after. She was forced to bend her legs as her eyes stung from being open underwater. She closed them, but she couldn't swim up because something was keeping her under. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, looking at Yomi, who seemed to be smiling. After a few more seconds, both girls surfaced, Yomi laughing a little bit as Mariel gasped for air.

"Not used to being underwater?" Yomi asked after a moment, when Mariel had caught her breathe.

Mariel shook her head, "No. I'm not."

"Sorry about that, then," Yomi chuckled. "C'mon. We should go into shore. I know of a movie that'll be playing soon that I'm sure you'll like."

Mariel looked at Yomi suspiciously. "Either you've been talking to Sam, Miles, or you've been stalking me like I was stalking you," she accused. "You were planning this!"

Yomi smirked at her. "Maybe I have," Yomi said mysteriously, grinning before she swam back towards shore.

"Hey! Wait!" Mariel exclaimed, swimming after Yomi as fast as she could.

Mariel was panting slightly while Yomi was chuckling when the two were both finally standing in the grass on the shore of the lake. Mariel glared playfully, panting. Mariel was a bit more out of shape than Yomi was, so it wasn't easy for her to keep up with the taller girl.

"Looks like I may have to get you into some shape," Yomi chuckled. "We'll worry about that later, however. C'mon. My car's over this way."

Mariel sighed and followed Yomi towards her car, not entirely looking forward to getting fit. She was a bit muscular since she had started following Yomi to the gym in hopes of subtly impressing Yomi, but she wasn't sure about getting fit since she wasn't too good at it. She blinked when she saw Yomi's car, jaw dropping at how nice it was. While Mariel wasn't too car savvy, she did know an Impala when she saw it.

"I see you like my car," Yomi said proudly. "It's a 2005 Impala."

"Can I guess that your favorite color is red?" Mariel asked as she studied the red car.

"Actually, my favorite color is violet, but I don't mind red all that much," she replied with a smile. "Also, you forgot your stuff."

Mariel blushed and scrambled back to where she left her duffle bag and towel. After drying off, Mariel put on her second set of clothes after going to some bushes, so she could get out of her swimsuit. She then grabbed and put on her shoes before throwing her towel in the duffle bag. She checked her phone and saw she had a text message from her mother. She quickly texted back that she was going on a date and would try to be back before midnight since she was going to dinner and a movie. After that, Mariel ran back up to where Yomi was, making sure she didn't leave anything behind or drop anything. She placed her things in Yomi's trunk since Yomi had popped it for her before hopping into the passenger seat, blushing lightly.

Mariel was slightly out of breath as she put her shoes on while sitting in the passenger seat. When she was done, she went to buckle when she noticed a bummed-out Miles and realized that Sam must've dumped him after he realized he could convince Mikaela to let him take her home.

"Yomi, can we first give Miles a ride to his house? It looks like Sam ditched him," Mariel said, unable to hold her anger towards Miles when she realized that he was in the same boat as her when it came to her brother's obsession with the Banes girl.

"Yeah. Honestly, I'm surprised at how obsessed Sam is. First you, then Miles. While I can understand him ditching Miles- friends come second to girls -I'm still surprised he ditched his own sister," Yomi said as she started the car and pulled up towards Miles. "I mean, you've put your neck out for him a lot and he doesn't seem to do the same for you."

"Sam's both a spaz and a coward. I've gotten used to it," Mariel replied before rolling down her window. "Hey, Miles. Need a ride?"

"You girls are life savers," Miles said with an expression of gratitude as he climbed into the backseat the way a normal person does.

"No problem, Mile," Yomi said. "You're my friend. There's no way I'd leave you stranded."

"Least you're more understanding than Sam," Miles said as Yomi began driving after she made sure everyone was buckled in.

"Yes, well my brother is currently thinking with his dick," Mariel said dryly, rolling her eyes.

The ride was mostly silent after that as they drove towards Miles' house. The two waved goodbye to him before leaving when they dropped him off, heading towards the movie theater.

"So, we're getting dinner after the movie?" Mariel asked, making sure she had that right as she glanced at Yomi.

"Yes," Yomi nodded. "No, I'm not telling you what movie we're going to see. It's a surprise."

"You know that's a little cliché," Mariel pouted.

Yomi merely smirked. "I don't care if it is," she replied. "I just want to make this night a good one for you."

Mariel stared at Yomi for a moment. "Are you a hopeless romantic?" she finally asked.

"I suppose that depends on one's definition," Yomi replied with a grin as they pulled up to the movie theater.

"I didn't realize the movie theater was only around five minutes from Miles' place and fifteen from the lake..." Mariel said, blinking in surprise as she glanced at the clock. _Maybe I will be able to get home before midnight._

"Yes, well, it is," Yomi said with a smile.

The two girls got out of the car, Yomi making sure it was locked just to be on the safe side. When the two went inside, Yomi insisted on Mariel waiting for her in the concession line while she got the tickets. After getting the two tickets, she joined Mariel in the line and insisted on paying for everything since the date had been her idea. Mariel tried to protest and say she could pay for her share, but Yomi wouldn't have it. The two got their drinks and popcorn before heading off to the right room after showing their tickets to the person waiting there. When Mariel finally saw what movie they were going to see, she squealed and hugged Yomi, before backing off, embarrassed, and apologized. Yomi merely chuckled at her.

Once in their seats as the commercials played, the two got comfortable. Mariel felt extremely happy to know that, not only did her crush like her back and want to be her girlfriend, but they were already on their first date. As the movie began to play, Mariel decided that life couldn't get any better than what was happening.

* * *

 **FINALLY. I finally got it done! :D This chapter is nearly 4,000 words long (excluding this ending note), so I hope you all have enjoyed it! This is probably one of the longest chapters I've ever written for a fanfic. I'm sorry if the end feels a little rushed, but I didn't feel like spending too much time on the date. If you all want a more in-depth version, especially since I'll be doing somewhat of a time-skip next chapter.**

 **Edit: *looks up* Wow. A few months ago, it really was a novelty for me to write anything longer than 3,000 words, wasn't it? Well, now I'm getting to the point where, in some stories, my chapters rarely dip below 4,000 words. I never realized how utterly short a 3,000-word chapter is. Not until I started writing stories like _Unconventional Way to Heal_ , at least.**


	3. Chapter Three: Robots and Accidents

**Edit: I added a few sentences to this one, so that's why if you noticed a difference. I had to, to make a scene flow a little better than it originally did.**

 **Welcome to chapter three! I'm extremely glad that I'm going to be getting this out so soon!**

 **Mariel: I think that's a new record... Still compensating for what happened before?**

 **Yes. Now hush. It's story time!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not, and never will, own _Transformers_! I only own my OCs, Mariel Janet Witwicky and Jasmine "Yomi" Pierce, along with the plot!**

 **Note: Mariel was formerly known as Mariel Samantha Witwicky, but I chose to change her middle name.**

 **REVIEWS**

 ** _AutobotGuy710: *blushes* Aw. Thanks. I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story so far! As I've briefly mentioned before, I've been revising this story and my oc, Mariel, for years. I think I was about ten when I first made Mariel... Anyways, I'm extremely happy that you like the story so far!_**

 **KEY**

"Talking."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _"Radio-clips"_

 _Thoughts/Dream/Flashback_ (If it's a dream or a flashback, I will also ensure that you all know)

 _"Phone."_

* * *

Mariel groaned as she slowly woke to the sound of her phone buzzing. She opened her eyes, her vision blurry from sleep as she reached out. It was Saturday, so she didn't understand _why_ it was buzzing. Grabbing it, she flipped it open to see what it was. She was surprised to see that it was her father calling her.

"Hello?" she asked sleepily.

 _"Mariel! Finally! I've been calling you for over an hour now!"_ her father said into the phone. _"Where the hell are you?"_

Mariel blinked as she tried to think through her foggy mind. She tried to remember through the haze before realizing where she was. She sat up at once, noticing she was in the same clothes as the night before. That was good- it meant that nothing had happened last night that she didn't remember. She was on an unfamiliar bed in a mostly bare room.

"I'm over at a friend's house, Dad," Mariel replied, not yet going to tell him she now had a girlfriend. "We must've been up late talking, and I forgot to let you guys know I might not be home. Sorry."

 _"Ah! Alright. Well, I just wanted to let you know that we had to bail your brother out of jail,"_ Ron said.

"WHAT?! What happened, Dad?! Tell me Sam's alright! I'm certain he didn't do whatever it was they think he did!" Mariel was instantly panicked at this news as she ended up falling off the bed she was on. "Ow!"

 _"Mariel, calm down! Easy, easy! Someone stole your brother's car. It was late, and he was scared- hallucinated that it stole itself. It's alright,"_ Ron said.

"He tried going after them himself, didn't he?" she asked with a sigh as she stood, wincing at the pain from falling.

 _"Yes, he did. He's home and safe, though. You should come back home, though. It's nearly noon,"_ he said.

"Yeah, Dad. I'll be home soon. I promise," Mariel replied.

The call ended, and she closed her phone, taking a moment to think about that.

"You okay?"

Mariel jumped and whirled around, calming when she saw it was just a worried Yomi.

"Yeah. Sorry if I worried you when I fell," she said softly. "Thanks for letting me stay in the guest room. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

Yomi waved her off.

"It's no biggie. I didn't mind," Yomi said with a smile. "I was tempted to let you stay in my room, but Mom would've thrown a fit."

Mariel couldn't help but chuckle.

"I can imagine," she said.

"C'mon, let's get you home," Yomi said.

Mariel nodded, following Yomi after she grabbed her stuff and pocketed her phone. The two girls talked as they went on their way to Mariel's house, Mariel discovering that she hadn't been the only one doing some stalking.

"How the hell did I never notice?" she asked, shaking her head.

"No clue," Yomi replied.

Mariel went to get out when her brother was suddenly by the door.

"Let me in, let me in, let me in!" he cried, throwing open the back door and getting in. "Drive, drive, drive!"

The two girls exchanged looks but didn't argue at his panicked tone. Yomi started driving and it didn't take long for them to figure out why he wanted them to drive. They were being followed by Sam's new car, which was driverless. It was Mariel who pointed this out, causing Yomi to floor the gas and no longer car about any street laws. The world flew by, but the Camaro stayed behind them the entire time.

Mariel wasn't sure what happened-one moment they were flying down the road so fast she couldn't see the world outside the car, the next there was a lurch and her vision suddenly went black for a moment as she felt her body be thrown against the door and seatbelt. She groaned when things came back into focus, noticing she was upside down. What had happened? Had they hit another car? Had the Camaro hit _them_?

"Y-Yomi? S-Sam?" she choked out, trying to figure out where the other two were.

The windows were broken, Yomi was unconscious, and they appeared to be in an abandoned part of town. When had they gotten here? What had happened? She was disoriented, confused, and somewhat afraid. Everything hurt. The sound of clashing metal was ringing in her ears, causing her to become even more disoriented at the screeching sound it made. Moving made Mariel whimper in pain and she had a feeling her left leg was probably broken. If not, then it was either trapped or severely sprained.

"Oh my god!" a voice suddenly cried out.

Mariel turned her head, seeing a pair of feet. She whimpered in pain as a familiar face appeared, horror and worry in her eyes.

"Mariel! Are you alright?!" the black-haired girl asked, brown eyes wide with fear.

"I... Hurts..." Mariel choked out, whimpering.

"Easy... Easy..." the girl said.

The girl stood, seeming to check something before getting on her hands and knees, reaching through the broken window.

"C'mon. Grab my hands. I'll help you out. Then we can get Sam and Yomi out," the girl coaxed. "Easy. That's it. It's alright. I know it hurts. You're going to be okay."

It took somewhere around twenty minutes to finally get Mariel free of the car. It hurt to move, and she was right about her leg being badly sprained. Her left leg was badly bruised and twisted, making Mariel wonder how the hell it wasn't broken. It was a small blessing compared to the fact that her bother and girlfriend were unconscious.

"S-Sam!" Mariel cried upon seeing her brother's form.

Sam must've never buckled because he was lying on the hood of the car, which was upside-down. He was unconscious and appeared to have a head wound. Her own injuries forgotten, Mariel at once began to work on getting him out of the car, being extra careful of his wounds. It took her probably thirty minutes to get her brother free, her girlfriend semi-forgotten at the fact her brother was so severely injured. If he wasn't, why else would he still be unconscious like this?

"Sam! Sam!" Mariel cried, trying to wake him up.

Mikaela and the now-awake Yomi watched as Mariel kept trying to wake her brother up in vain. Both had heard the rumors of Mariel's unhealthy obsession with Sam's health, but now understood. Mariel was afraid of losing her brother, overreacting because of his lack of response. Yomi knew that it was likely Sam was simply unconscious due to his head injury, so Mariel's panic was likely making it seem worse.

Mariel was suddenly struck with just how silent it was besides her cries for her brother. Fearful, teary eyes snapped up as she looked around, freezing when she saw a robot standing some feet away. It was the same colors as the Camaro and looked like it might be concerned. She tensed up, fearing it was the one who had done this.

"Easy, Mari," Yomi said soothingly. "Mikaela explained what she saw. The yellow robot was protecting us from a black and white one that turns into a police car."

Mariel turned her attention to her girlfriend, searching Yomi's eyes. Slowly, she relaxed.

"He... He needs a hospital..." she whimpered.

"It's alright," Yomi reassured. "He'll be fine."

Mariel turned to look at the robot as it approached. She was oh-so scared, and the robot appeared to try to be less threatening. It knelt just a little way away from them.

"What... Who are you...?"

Mariel turned to Mikaela, who now stood so she was between it and them.

 _"Oh-my-god-it's-an-alien"_ played like it was being broadcasted on the radio.

"You're an alien?" Mikaela asked.

It took around half an hour, but eventually they understood who and what the robot was. It took a while because of how limited using the radio was, but they understood something was wrong with his voice. Mariel was amazed that she was before a real alien, one named _Bumblebee_ of all things no less.

"Bumblebee... Can... Can you take us to the hospital...? P-please?" Mariel asked hopefully.

When the alien nodded, she was very relieved as he turned into the Camaro again. Yomi picked up Sam carefully, putting him in the car while Mikaela helped Mariel stand and get into the passenger seat. Mikaela then got into the back with Sam while Yomi pretended to be the driver. It was silent as they drove towards the hospital, Mariel doing her best to both process everything she had learned- limited, but still mind boggling -and to stay awake. She knew she, Yomi, and Sam likely had concussions and that they were lucky to be alive. She had Mikaela checking his pulse every ten minutes, paranoid he'd die before they reached the hospital.

"Bumblebee? How long before your... Friends arrive?"

 _"A-couple-of-days-madam,"_ was the reply from the radio.

"Do you know the maximum?"

 _"A-week-or-so. Don't-worry-I'll-protect-you-all-until-they-arrive,"_ was the reply.

"... Thank you, Bumblebee..."

Mariel must've fallen asleep because when she woke, it was dark out. There was a strange boy with bright blond hair, borderline yellow, sitting next to her. He was wearing a yellow jacket with a black stripe across his chest area with a matching yellow shirt. He was wearing yellow shorts with black stripes going down the side and his blue eyes were focused on the window.

"B... Bee?" she asked weakly, not sure how she knew.

The boy turned his electric blue eyes to her, a relieved look entering them.

 _'How are you?'_

She blinked when she recognized that he was using sign language, suddenly grateful her brother and her chose to learn it to have a 'secret' language when they were little. It had been to annoy their parents.

"W... Weak... N... Need... W... Wat... ter..." she managed to say, her voice hoarse and weak.

The boy nodded, and he stood up, walking to the hallway. He grabbed a nurse, who came back with some water oddly quickly.

"Glad to see you awake, dear," the nurse said, helping her sit up and letting her drink the water. "You've been out for quite some time. The boy woke up two days ago. That young lady went home but has been visiting you every day just like your parents. Your parents and this boy keep going back and forth between you and Mr. Witwicky."

"Sam is okay?" Mariel asked after drinking the water. "He's making a good recovery?"

"Yes. In fact, he can go home tomorrow," the nurse replied. "You'll have to stay here until the day after, just to be sure that nothing is wrong."

Mariel nodded in understanding. When the nurse left, she turned to Bumblebee. Choosing to not use her voice, she did her best to use sign language. She hadn't done it since she was eleven, so she was extremely rusty at it.

 _'I'm sorry. I'm not understanding,'_ Bumblebee signed.

"It's okay, 'Bee. I can only remember so much about sign language since it's been a long time," Mariel said softly, keeping her voice incredibly low so she didn't aggravate her throat. "But how did you get like... y'know?"

He grabbed a writing pad next to him and showed her the answer.

"Holoform?" she read aloud. "A solid light hologram, huh? Your race must be pretty advanced... Makes me feel bad that you have such an old model for an alternate form."

He took the pad back and wrote something down. She chuckled lightly.

"I'm not surprised. 'Kaela... She's the a "popular girl". They always turn their nose up at stuff like that..."

Mariel stared coughing. It calmed down after just a little bit. She didn't need to know sign language or be able to read to know that Bumblebee was suggesting you rest.

"T... The others..."

 _'Are safe. Don't worry. My friend, Jazz, arrived ahead of the others and is watching over Yomi and Mikaela,'_ Bumblebee wrote down on the notepad.

"O... Okay..."

* * *

Mariel was happy to be walking out of the hospital wearing a new pair of clothes. She smiled when she saw her brother there along with Yomi, Mikaela, and Bumblebee's holoform. After more interrogation, she learned that he gotten it after Jazz arrived, as it had been created when they realized it would look weird for their alts to be driverless. She had yet to meet Jazz, but she noticed that there was a darker skinned man with them. He was wearing a pair of blue sunglasses and had deep brown, curly hair. It was much lusher than Mariel's own faded brown locks that took after her father's brown hair. She also couldn't help but noticed he was quite tall and looked to be in his early twenties, while Bumblebee appeared to be maybe a year younger than she was in his holoform.

 _So that must be Jazz,_ Mariel thought to herself as she approached. She wasn't surprised when Sam and Yomi hugged her, prompting her to hug back.

"I'm happy to be out of the hospital too," she chuckled, smiling.

"C'mon," Yomi said. "Their friends are arriving earlier than expected. Don't worry about your parents- Sam let them know we were throwing you a little "finally out of the hospital" party."

"That's good," she said. "Anyways, I've been meaning to ask. Who the _fuck_ was the asshole that flipped us?"

"'is nam' is Barr'cade," Jazz said as he strode forward. "'Con scum tha' y'all shoul' be wary o'. Thou', ya' go' not'in' ta worry 'bout wit' me and 'Bee 'round."

"Nice accent," Mariel couldn't help but comment, smirking lightly. "Barricade, huh? Sounds like a bad-guy name. I assume you're Jazz. The name's Mariel. Mariel Witwicky."

"Nice ta' meet ya' fin'lly, Mari'," Jazz said with a grin. "Boss Bot has 'ppointed me as you an' Yomi's guardian. 'Bee is Sam an' 'Kaela's."

"Alright. At least that means a free ride," Mariel said, grinning.

"Just don't let her drive," Sam warned. "She's got _serious_ road rage!"

"I do not!" Mariel shot back.

"Yes you do!" Sam said. "You, on your _driver's test_ , started spewing profanities at the car in front of you because you thought it was going too slow! It was going the speed limit!"

"Not my fault that these towns have too slow of speed limits!" Mariel huffed.

"Ah hav' ta' admit tha' Ah agree wit' Mari' on dis one," Jazz commented. "Anyways, it's a lil' ways to th' meetin' plac', so we shoul' get goin'."

"How far is it exactly?" Mikaela asked curiously.

"Eh... 'bout three or four breems," Jazz said with a shrug. "It's an empty feild ta' the' north."

"Breems?" Yomi asked, brow furrowing.

"Hours," Jazz amended. "Sorr'. 'Breem' is ou' term for 'hour'."

"It's alright Jazz," Sam said. "You're new- we can't expect you to understand our terms immediately."

Jazz nodded and headed for his alt. mode, one that made Mariel stop and stare in awe. She knew everything about the car because it was a car that she absolutely wanted to own one day. Now her guardian had it as an alt. mode, so that made things even _better_ , because she didn't have to buy it or _anything_! It was a silver 2007 Pontiac Solstice GPX.

"Jazz... You have the _best_ tastes in cars!" Mariel said, her eyes lighting up as she rushed over, jumping into the passenger seat. She didn't even car that the others were laughing at her enthusiasm as Yomi got into the back and Jazz's holoform got into the driver's seat.

"Why th'nk ya', lil' lady!" Jazz said with a chuckle as he started up his alt.

It was probably thirty minutes into the drive when Mariel noticed that Jazz kept glancing at her and Yomi, whom she was having an enjoyable conversation with.

"Something wrong, Jazz?"

Apparently, Yomi had caught onto it as well.

"Ah was jus' won'erin'... Are ya' two bon'mates? Ya' don' have ta' ans'er if ya' don' want ta," Jazz said, glacing at the two girls again.

Yomi and Mariel shared a confused glance, uncertain what he meant by "bondmates".

"Bondmates?" Mariel asked.

"Ah... Sorr'. Um..."

Jazz was clearly struggling to find the right term to use, making it very obvious just how new to the planet and its language he was.

"Jazz... Are you asking if Mari and I are in a relationship?" Yomi asked.

"Yeah. Tha's it. A rela'ionship," Jazz said, nodding.

"Yes, we are Jazz. We're fairly new to it, however, as we had just gotten together the day before Bumblebee revealed himself to us," Mariel replied, nodding. "Why do you ask?"

"'Is jus' tha' us Cybertr'nians... We 'ave really actue senses wh'n we 'aven't adjusted them... An' ah not'ced tha' you two 'ave tha' certain scen' tha' makes it obvious tha' ya' two lik' each o'er, bu' Ah di'n't wan' ta' say an'thin' if ya' weren't yet in a rela'ionship," Jazz explained, somewhat awkward simply because he knew enough about humans to know that it was a very awkward subject for them.

Yomi threw her head back and began to laugh.

"Oh... God...!" she laughed. "Sam's in tro-ouble! If they can smell out pheromones when they haven't adjusted their senses, then someone is going to point out Sam's crush on Mikaela!"

"It's not a crush," Mariel growled. "He's just thinking with his damned dick!"

"Ah, c'mon Mari! We both know he wants to do more than bang her!" Yomi cackled.

"THERE IS NO WAY MY BROTHER IS MARRYING THAT SLUT!" Mariel seethed.

Jazz felt himself relax as he found the two girls crudely discussing Sam's own feelings. The two weren't shy or awkward about the subject, letting him know that they wouldn't mind if he was blunt. He had a feeling that both girls, not just Yomi, would start laughing when Ratchet met Sam and Mikaela simply because Yomi was proven right. He let his holoform grin as he listened to the two girls bicker about Sam's feelings for Mikaela, then discuss what would happen if she broke Sam's heart, and so on. _Yeah. This will be interesting alright,_ Jazz thought with a grin as he listened to the girls.

* * *

 **Alright! That's chapter three everyone!**

 **Edit: I erased a good amount in this Author's Note… It just didn't need to be here.**


	4. Chapter Four: The Autobots

**Edit: This only has grammar/spelling mistakes taken care of again.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not, and never will, own _Transformers_! I only own my OCs, Mariel Janet Witwicky and Jasmine "Yomi" Pierce, along with the plot!**

 **Note: Mariel was formerly known as Mariel Samantha Witwicky, but I chose to change her middle name. I'm terribly sorry if I don't do how Jazz speaks justice. I only have a handful of examples to go off of and I am not used to writing people who have accents!**

 **REVIEWS**

 ** _monkeybaby: I'm so happy that you enjoyed the chapter. Words can't express how happy I am to see that you're still enjoying this story!_**

 ** _TFSTARFIRE: I'm so happy that you "definitely" enjoyed the chapter! Again, words cannot express how happy I am that you're enjoying my story._**

 ** _Onyx (Guest): Aw. I'm so happy that you like this story!_**

 **KEY**

"Talking."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _"Radio-clips"_

 _Thoughts/Dream/Flashback_ (If it's a dream or a flashback, I will also ensure that you all know)

 _"Phone."_

* * *

The entire ride was filled with endless chatter as they headed towards the abandoned power plant that was five hours away from Tranquility. Jazz found that he enjoyed the endless chatter of the two girls, not at all feeling left out despite the fact they were "girlfriends". In fact, they were all too happy to answer any question he had involving human mating, besides the actual mating ritual itself. He found it completely absurd that people would look down on human mechs and femmes who decided they wanted to be with another mech or femme rather than having a femme/mech relationship. Sure, it probably didn't help that femme/femme and mech/mech relationships couldn't create a sparkling in the human race, but from what they told him, there were plenty of orphaned sparklings that needed creators and a home. _Humans are a confusing race,_ Jazz decided as he listened to the girl prattle on.

When they finally arrived at the designated meeting spot, he was about to open to the doors of his alt. to let the femmes out. While Yomi was about to open the door, Mariel took advantage of his alt. mode being a convertible and hoped over the side instead. Jazz gave her an amused look, letting Yomi out. He then let his holoform fizzle out of existence, finally transforming so the girls could see what he looked like. He couldn't help but grin at the amazed looks on their faces as he transformed in front of them.

"Damn you got an awesome visor!" Mariel said, giving a whistle.

"Why thank ya', Lil' Lady!" Jazz replied with a grin.

The silver mech was all too happy that he had been assigned as Yomi and Mariel's guardian. He found both girls rather hilarious, though strange. They threw insults they didn't mean at one another, talking about random things... They, despite having only officially known each other and been girlfriends for a week-ish, were already best friends. He could tell that they adored each other, something he was glad they found despite how young they were. He also admired how Mariel seemed to put her brother first when it came to _everything_. During the chatter, he learned that Mariel was a big prankster like himself, but that she never did more than some very harmless pranks when it came to her brother. She looked out for him like she was his older sister, not his younger twin.

 _She acts like they're split-spark twins,_ Jazz thought. _But that's not possible since they're human. Maybe they're split-soul twins? I mean... It could be possible... I guess I'll talk to Ratchet about that._

"Hey, Jazz?"

The silver mech looked down to see Yomi standing there. A quick scan of the area informed him that Mariel had scampered off to where Mikaela was, with Sam and Bumblebee. From what the mech could tell, it seemed like the two females were talking and Mikaela looked a bit put off. Returning his attention to Yomi, he motioned for her to go ahead.

"I need you to do me a favor," Yomi started, "Keep an eye on Mariel mostly. Especially if we get attacked by 'Cons again. Please. She'll neglect her own health just to take care of her brother. I... Normally don't listen to school rumors but... There's a rumor that Mari once hid the fact she was sick just so Sam didn't have to go to school without her. She's _extremely_ overprotective of him. If caught in a battle... She'll ignore any injuries she has so that she can save his life."

"You thin' sh'd risk offlin'in jus' to protect 'er b'other?" Jazz asked, both surprised and impressed.

"I... It's just a hunch but... I feel like something bad is going to happen to her," Yomi admitted. "Please Jazz. I don't know if I'd be able to get through to her. If I can't, you'll probably need to physically pick her up to keep her from hurting herself."

"Hey, don' worry so much, Lil' Lady," Jazz assured Yomi. "Tha's wha' 'm 'ere for. Tah mak' sure y'all stay 'live. Besides, it'd be a sham' tah loose friends lik' you two!"

"Thanks, Jazz," Yomi said with a smile. "She needs someone who can take care of her. I'm glad that you'll do that."

"Yer welc'me, Lil' Lady," Jazz replied with a grin.

"Holy shit!"

Mariel had been giving Mikaela the third degree, much to Sam's embarrassment, when she noticed something. Upon looking up, she spotted about three vehicles that looked _awesome_ driving towards them. What had caused her outburst was the big rig, which was mainly blue with custom red flames painted onto it. It made her eyes wide and she wanted to drool over just how _wonderful_ it looked. Her exclamation drew the attention of their guardians, who both grinned. Well, Jazz did. Bumblebee hopped from foot to foot excitedly.

As the three vehicles drew close, they suddenly started to shift. When they stopped, they began to stand up. Mariel watched in wonder as the lime green emergency response vehicle became an Autobot taller than Bumblebee. The black truck became a lightly taller Autobot, one that looked much meaner. The final Autobot, the blue and red one, was by far the tallest. Mariel had instant respect for the large Autobot, her eyes staring at him in wonder. Something in her heart told her he was in charge and that he would never harm her brother, or anyone if he could help it. Unless they were Decepticon.

"Woah..."

"Jazz, Bumblebee," the lime one said, "May I assume that you've run into no trouble lately? How have the holoforms been working?"

"Besides Barr'cade we've had no tro'ble. Luckily, no perm'nent injuries w're gained," Jazz replied. "Nice tah see ya' too, Docbot."

"Don't call me that," the lime one snapped.

"Enough, both of you," the red and blue Autobot calmly told the two. He then turned his attention to the three girls and single boy. "May I assume that you are Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?"

The large Autobot had knelt, bring his face to their level. Mariel got the feeling that he was trying to look less threatening, even though she knew her brother was probably about to wet himself. She bravely started to walk a bit closer, curious. She saw Sam do the same from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah..." the boy replied hesitantly. "That's me. Who... Who are you?"

"I am Optimus Prime," the Autobot replied. "Leader of the Autobots. Now... Which of you three is Mariel Janet Witwicky?"

"That's me, Sir," Mariel said respectfully, bringing his attention to her.

He nodded, then turned to the other two, as if waiting for them to introduce themselves.

"I'm Yomi. Yomi Pierce," Yomi said, coming to stand by Mariel. "I'm Mariel's girlfriend. Please look up the term because I don't feel like re-explaining what we've already told Jazz."

Optimus nodded, his eyes turning to the still hesitant Mikaela.

"I... I'm Mikaela Banes. I'm an... Acquaintance of the Twins."

Optimus nodded. He then turned their attention to the two next to him.

"This is Ironhide, the Autobot weapons specialist. And he is Ratchet, our Medical Officer," Optimus introduced. "You already know our scout and Samuel's guardian, Bumblebee. Along with Mariel's guardian and our saboteur, Jazz."

"A scout, huh?" Sam asked, glancing over at Bumblebee, who looked impressed with himself.

Mariel had to hide a smile as she realized that Bumblebee _might_ have a crush on her brother, if his actions of trying to impress Sam were anything to go by. It was why he changed to a newer model of car, she could tell that he wanted to impress Sam. She had heard Sam explain that Mikaela didn't mean to hurt Bee's feelings by calling his alt. mode a piece of crap earlier.

 _Oh, my poor oblivious brother... You have two perfectly decent men- err, well, yeah -who would like you to notice them, but you're still thinking like a straight man..._ Mariel couldn't help but think.

"Hmm... Pheromones-"

"Uh, Ratchet?" Mariel instantly turned to the medic. "Please don't do that. It's a bit... Well... Impolite. Besides, humans don't have that strong of a sense of smell, so it'd make it awkward if you announced how anyone here was feeling about someone else. Okay?"

Ratchet blinked but nodded and wisely kept his mouth shut. Mariel relaxed, glad that her brother's dignity was now safe.

"... What was that about?"

Mariel turned to her poor, naïve brother and gave him her most winning smile.

"Nothing, Sammy. I _promise_ ," she replied, keeping her smile on. "Now... Prime, sir, is there a reason why you seem so interested in my brother and I? Jazz mentioned something about needing our great-grandfather's glasses...?"

Optimus nodded, standing up a bit. He pressed something on the side of his helm as he began to explain about the war, the cube, and the importance of the glasses. A hologram was displayed, showing them images of the war on Cybertron and of the Cube. When Mariel saw an image of the cube, she felt an odd tingle go down her spine. Like she was looking at something sacred. When the little "presentation" was done, she turned her attention to Optimus.

"Prime..." she began, unsure why she kept calling him just "Prime", "You said that the Allspark was immensely powerful. What all can it do?"

"The Allspark can create life and energon," Optimus said. "In this case, it can provide Megatron with an edge as he could use it to bring online more Decepticons faster."

"By create life..."

"A Cybertronian can build a body, one of any physical age, and the Allspark will grant it a spark with the knowledge that corresponds with that age," Optimus explained. "While not the only way to create life when it comes to our species, it was the quickest and easiest way. Something we need with how close our race is to extinction."

"It sounds very powerful," Mariel said. "And... I worry that the human government may have already found it. The images suggest the cube is large, not to mention easily identifiable."

"You worry what your people may be doing with it should they have it," Optimus guessed.

"Yes. The government likely has Megatron still frozen somewhere. If they do, Prime, then that would explain the sudden jump in "inventing" modern technology for our race in the most recent years," Mariel said, looking concerned.

"I can understand your worry," Optimus said, voice soothing. "Your internet has revealed much about how your governments tend to act. Especially if they feel like they're being threatened. I have taken this into consideration and we plan to keep a low profile as best we can. We do not wish to cause any trouble. However, if your government does have the Allspark, I will reach out and request it be returned. I plan to keep things as diplomatic as possible."

"And if the government decides to attack?"

"We will do what we can without causing human casualty."

Mariel couldn't help but smile at that. She nodded before glancing at the brother as she remembered something.

"Sammy... You _do_ still have those glasses, right?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, they're in a bag in my backpack."

"Let's get going then," Mikaela said. "I don't know about you, but I don't want this Megatron to take over the Earth."

"Sounds like it'll take a while," Yomi remarked. "Mind if I take Jazz and stop by my house to get some supplies?"

"Supplies?" Mikaela asked.

"That's a great idea," Mariel agreed. "The coordinates on the glasses could lead us halfway across the country."

"Uh... Us?" Sam asked.

"Yes. Us. Sammy, this is _our_ legacy. You always wanted to be an adventurer, remember?" Mariel said. "Besides, they're new to Earth. They have a better chance of lying low with four humans with them."

"Or we could end up getting in their way, or dead, and what about our parents?!" Sam replied, looking frantic.

"Sammy..." Mariel sighed.

"We do not want to endanger human lives," Optimus said. "All we need is the glasses."

"Too bad," Mariel said. "Sammy and I are coming, and _no one_ is changing my mind!"

"... I _hate_ it when you make decisions for me..." Sam muttered.

"Murderous cop car, remember?"

"Annnd we're safer with the Autobots," Sam agreed at once.

"Wuss."

"Bitch."

"Moron."

"..."

Mariel smirked at her brother, who glared back in a playful manner. The Autobots watched, amazed at how much the two acted like Cybertronian twins tended to. Playful banter and some fighting. Nothing serious and the two were never too serious about their insults, it appeared. The two continued for some time, throwing playful insults back and forth with Yomi and Mikaela just shaking his head.

"Alright. Sam and Mikaela will hit Sam's house," Yomi interrupted. "With the Autobots. Jazz, Mari', and I will go get some human supplies."

"Yeah. That's a good plan," Sam agreed.

"We shoul' prob'bly get goin' then," Jazz said, switching to his car form. "Who wan's driv's seat?"

Mariel grinned and hopped into the driver's seat while Yomi rolled her eyes and calmly got into the passenger seat. They waved goodbye to Optimus and the others, speeding off the get the necessities that humans needed for long trips.

"Yah kno' wha', Mari'? I thin' you an' Ah'll get 'long jus' fine," Jazz said with a grin.

"I sure hope so, Jazzy," Mariel smirked.

Yomi just rolled her eyes at the due, though she was smiling.

* * *

 **Alright. Sorry if it was a sucky chapter. I didn't know how else to introduce the rest of the Autobots, if I'm honest. As this focuses on Mariel, we won't be seeing S-7 in the normal way. A different route is taken. *smirks***

 **Mariel: Aria's taking votes on weather Jazz should die or not.**

 ***shrugs* Eh. _Maybe_. Have a good day/night!**


	5. Chapter Five: The Boomerang Effect

**This chapter has been edited and changed somewhat for the original. The next chapter is going to be/has been completely rewritten. This was done as I realized I added a character that does not belong and has no place in the story.**

* * *

 _Pain surged through her head, her vision blurry as she managed to crack open her eyes. She was lying on the ground, the rest of her body finally registering the pain in it as she tried to focus on the world around her. A lump was in her throat as she pushed herself into a sitting position to stare at where the explosion had hit. There was a body against the wall of a building, only half there yet easily identifiable. She choked back a sob, even as a shadow loomed over her. She turned her watering eyes up to where the pained face of the Autobot leader was over her. She found sympathy in his optics._

 _"I'm sorry," the Prime told her, kneeling before her. "But Samuel needs you. Make sure that, should it come down to it, he pushes the Cube into my chest."_

 _"B-but-" she choked out, despite wanting to lay back down, curl up, and sob. "C-couldn't we p-push i-it into Megatron's chest, in-instead?"_

 _"There is a chance it won't kill. A chance we cannot take," the Prime responded before standing and turning back to where his enemy was._

 _Megatron was climbing to his feet, growling in anger at the Prime. As she stared at the mech's red optics, she could not picture a time before the war, when he was a more peaceful mech. Yet no one started out evil, as she could see the emotional pain deep within his optics. Something in her urged her to reach out to him, to tell him that the pain eventually faded. But how could she when she felt that same pain, only fresher? She did not see an end to that pain._

 _"Mariel! Your arm!" Sam cried out._

 _She ignored what he said, pushing herself off of the ground. Why hadn't she listened to Jazz? Why hadn't she? Sam had been far enough away, their previous spot still untouched. She should have saved her. She shouldn't have chosen Sam. Her feet moved without her consent as she forced Sam down into a trench, trying to escape the fighting leaders of each faction. Things were going fast, the adrenaline in her veins dulling the pain. Was her arm broken? Why could she barely feel it? She didn't dare take her eyes off of Sam though._

 _That's when it happened. Both leaders were crawling towards Sam, both looking desperate. Her head felt light as she tried to speak, but nothing came out. She stumbled after Sam as he made a bee-line towards Megatron. She stumbled, staring as her twin forced the cub into Megatron's chest. She watched as it began to splinter, being sucking into the mech's chest. She thought she saw something going into Sam's chest, but perhaps it was just the blood loss talking._

 _Wait._

 _Blood loss?_

 _Her attention turned to her left arm as a sharp pain hit it, her adrenaline starting to wear off as some odd force went over her. Sam falilng onto his back, Megatron collapsing- she witnessed it from the corner of her eye. At last she looked at her arm full on as she began to feel more pain. Before she could register what she was seeing, a pain like no other rippled through her, followed immediately by an electrical pulse. She screamed._

Mariel gasped as she jerked awake, her eyes frantically searching for her brother or Yomi, her right hand immediately on her left arm. She was on the verge of hyperventilating, the world deathly silent as she began to feel a panic attack settle in.

"MARIEL!"

The girl jerked back, staring in shock at the dark skinned man sitting in the passenger seat. Her cheek was stinging, his hand still in the air after striking her. Her panicked, dark blue eyes met eyes covered by dark glasses. She could still see the concern on the man's face, though it took her a moment to register who she was looking at.

"J-Jazz?" she choked out, starting to calm even as she wanted to cry.

"Easy, there," Jazz said, accent gone. "Easy there. I'm right here. You're _safe_. Yomi is safe. _Sam_ is safe."

"Safe?" she repeated. "All safe?"

"Tha's righ', Lil' Spark," Jazz said, nodding. "They're all safe. _Everyone_ is safe."

She nodded before suddenly remembering her arm. Her eyes snapped to it, relief flooding her veins. Nothing was wrong with it. She flexed her left wrist, just to be certain and felt more relief. She was still anxious- she needed to see Sam. She needed to make sure Sam was safe. Yomi too, but mainly Sam. _Why am I so focused on Sam?_ she thought, frowning. _Yomi was the one who died... But Sam was right in front of Megatron. I don't know his fate after..._ She shook her head, shaking the thoughts from her head.

"Som'thin' on yer min', Lil' Spark?" Jazz asked, voice coming from the speakers. "Maybe ya' wan' talk 'bout yer dre'm?"

"Uh... I.. I was.."

"Ye'. Ya' were talkin' in yer recha'ge, Lil' Spark," Jazz confirmed. "Din't 'ear all o' it, bu' I did 'ear ya' say 'Yomi', 'Sam', an' 'Optimus'. I thin' ya' said mah name too."

"It... It was just a nightmare..." Mariel said softly.

"Bu' it had ya' in a pan'catta'k," Jazz pointed out.

"... Where is Yomi?"

"Still inside," Jazz replied.

Mariel turned towards the house they were parked in front of. It had been around seven hours since she had last seen her brother. They hadn't heard anything from the Autobots and it was now nearing dusk. It was strange, they had only been sitting there for maybe two hours. Why was Yomi taking so long? The drive back to the other Autobots was at least a five hour drive, for crying out loud!

"Jazz? Have you heard from the others?"

"Ye'. Som'thin' 'appened. OP wants us tah meet 'im at th' sam' place as befor'," Jazz replied. "He won' say why or wha's up."

"I... Oh," Mariel replied, feeling dread pool in her stomach.

Mariel noticed that Yomi was leaving her house finally, two suitcases with her. Jazz popped his trunk and Yomi placed the suitcases in there before getting into the passenger's seat.

"Alright. We're ready. Does Sam have the glasses?" Yomi asked.

"No' sure, Lil' Lady," Jazz replied as he started up. "Som'thin's wron', bu' Prime ain't talkin' 'bout it over th' Comms."

"Sam had better be okay," Mariel muttered darkly as they drove.

"I'm sure he is," Yomi assured her.

Mariel nodded as they drove through town, heading towards the meeting point. As they drove, Mariel pretended to drive, but her mind was focused on her disturbing dream. What she had seen in it still caused her to shiver. She knew she'd be having nightmares focusing on the things she'd seen in the dream for a long while. She wouldn't let anything happen to her girlfriend or her brother. Not now, not _ever._ Of course, it would still be a few hours before she saw him. _Stupid traffic laws, stupid meeting point having to be a few hours away..._

"Uh... Lil' Spark? Mind, uh, easin' up on th' wheel?"

Mariel blinked and realized that she was gripping his wheel rather hard. She blushed, apologized, and eased up.

"It's alrigh', Lil' Spark," Jazz replied.

"Hey Jazz?" Yomi said, needing to fill the silence. "How come you call us those names? Her "Little Spark" and me "Little Lady"."

"Well, fer the "Lil' Lady" nickname, it's 'cause all ya' hum'ns 're tiny compared to us Cybert'ians," Jazz explained. "Tha' an' yah seem tah be quite the lady. As fer th' "Lil' Spark" nic'name, sam'thin' fo' the "Lil" par'. Th' "Spark" par'... Ah'm no' quite sure. Jus'... Feels righ', ya' know?"

"Yeah, that makes sense," Yomi agreed, smiling softly.

Mariel opened her mouth to say something when they were suddenly thrown off course. Jazz had to transform around them to keep them from harm, but luckily they were outside the town and no one was around. Jazz skidded to a halt, holding the girls. Mariel had had the wind knocked out of her. Before she could react, she was on the ground behind Jazz as they were being surrounded, Jazz's weapons were suddenly out as well.

"Wha's th' meanin' o' this?!" Jazz demanded, eyeing the oddly, to him, dressed humans.

The two girls were scared, staring at the humans around them. They knew Jazz couldn't do anything or risk harming the humans that were around them, which he had explained as going against Prime's orders. Mariel watched as some people dressed in suits approached, having what looked like fire extinguishers on their backs, nozzles pointed at Jazz.

"I have an offer for you, Miss Witwicky," a man said. "We'll let the alien and your friend go, on the condition that you come with us."

"Why do ya' wan' mah cha'ge?" Jazz asked, keeping the girls below him where they were safe.

"All we want to do is reunite her with her parents and twin brother, who have also been exposed to your kind to some degree," the man replied.

"What have you done to Sammy?!" Mariel immediately snarled, about to attack the closet person for information. She didn't question why they didn't seem to want Yomi.

Only Yomi held her back, being much stronger than Mariel. Mariel glared at the bald man in a sharp black suit, teeth bared in a slightly animalistic way.

"I find your reaction quite intriguing," the man said, the interested glint in his eyes setting Mariel on edge even more. "Now, Samuel is perfectly fine. However, he may not remain that way if you do not come with us. We need the information you both have regarding, not only the NBEs, but the secrets that your great-grandfather seemed to have kept to himself."

"I don't know what your talking about," Mariel snarled. "And you leave Sammy alone! Touch him and I'll kill you!"

"Mari', easy. Tha's wha' they wan'- fer ya' tah act irration'lly," Jazz warned, worry in his tone.

"Oh? Do you truly not know, Miss Witwicky?" the man questioned. "You know at least one secret - the reason why these aliens are going after a pair of glasses so keenly."

Mariel didn't know how he knew that they Autobots were after her great-grandfather's glasses and she didn't know why he thought she knew some secrets. Did this have something to do with the fact that her great-grandfather was placed in an Asylum for life? Had his insanity been a lie? Or... Had Sam discovered something in his stuff that he hadn't told her about? He had claimed it was all junk and yet... _He never let me near it,_ she realized. Was Sam hiding something form her? She glanced at Jazz and Yomi, uncertain of what to do. Fear and doubt crept in, but she knew that was what this man wanted so she tried to squash it.

"These secrets - you realize that they could be potentially harmful to your twin, yes? I mean, just look at all the trouble the _glasses_ have brought the two of you!"

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. She took a deep breath to steady herself and looked at the man, searching for any hint of a lie. She couldn't seem to find any, maybe he just believed what he was saying was true, but his eyes... There was something there, something cold and terrifying and it reminded her of something dark and evil. She didn't like it. Even so...

"You swear you'll let them leave?" she finally asked, pulling away from her girlfriend and taking a few steps closer.

"Of course," the man answered with a smile.

The man waved and the cars parted, his lackeys piling back into their vehicles. She took a deep breath, trying to settle the dread she was feeling. _I'm sorry,_ she thought. _But I can't leave my brother alone and in their hands._ She walked towards him, knowing that Jazz and Yomi were too stunned to react. Half-way to him, yet still in range of Jazz, she turned back.

"I'm sorry," she said, aloud this time. "Jazz... Take care of Yomi and... Tell Optimus I trust him, okay?"

With those last words, she got into the black vehicle with the man, watching as they left Jazz and Yomi behind. She felt guilt, but mostly relief. At least they would be safe and she would be with her brother.

* * *

Mariel was quiet, seated in the back of the black SUV a few hours later. The bald man was in the front, also silent, not offering her any of information that she desperately wanted to demand for. She was trying to think about what he said, to decipher his words. _NBE, he called Jazz_ , she mulled. _It must stand for something like "Non-Biological Extraterrestrial". They seemed rather interested in them, yet chose to only go after me for some reason. I don't get it- why would he want me and my brother at all? What was great-grandfather Archibald hiding that Sam thought he needed to keep from me?_

"You're awfully quiet, Miss Witwicky," the bald man finally said. "Now, I know your name, but you don't know mine. I am Agent Banacheck of Sector Seven. You've never heard of it and never will. I'm honestly surprised you haven't been demanding any answers from me about my earlier words."

Mariel took that moment to glare darkly at the man before her, disliking the way he was prodding her. The way he was speaking to her, the tone he had taken, was as if he was talking to a small child or, perhaps, a lab experiment of some kind. She didn't like this man, he put her on edge in a way that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I don't think there is anything to demand answers about," she finally said, "Besides the well-being of my family."

"So you're not at all curious about how I came across information regarding the glasses? Or the possible secrets your family probably withheld from you?" Banacheck tried to bait.

Mariel's lip curled into a snarl at this as she directed her attention to the window, watching the darkness and knowing that the land was speeding by despite not being able to see it. This man reminded her of something foul, like a sewer-rat or slug of some kind.

"I only came so I can be with my brother," she said sharply. "You're most-likely lying about possible "secrets". As for the glasses, I believe that, since you know about great-grandfather, it's safe to deduce that you figured out his glasses had odd cracks on them."

She could tell that Banacheck had to, grudgingly, accept her words and the fact that he could not truly get a rise out of her. She refocused her attention on the world outside the vehicle, briefly wondering how Jazz and Yomi were. She felt guilty, still, about leaving them, but was glad they would be safe. She hoped that the others would not react to badly to her decision. All she wanted was to be with her brother again - it wasn't so bad, right? Besides, sleazy as the agent seemed, she tried to convince herself that he wouldn't hurt her. Even so, what he said about her brother did come back to her and caused her to doubt that.

"You seem to hold confidence in your standing," he finally said after a while.

"Of course," she scoffed, as if he was being absurd. "One must always be confident. If one doubts themselves, then nothing will get done."

She was doubting herself, she was just bluffing. A bluff he had yet to call, despite the fact he should be able to read her better than she could read him. Unless he was an incompetent adult. Yet... She felt as though he were waiting for something to happen. The way he was watching her made her feel uneasy and apprehensive.

She shouldn't have been surprised when something actually did happen. Not with that look and the feeling it gave her. Even so, the sudden pulse that went through her, like a shockwave emanating from somewhere far off, caught her off guard. She gasped and glimpsed him again, saw the look of triumph in his eyes even as his face morphed into shock. There was a blinding flash and then only darkness.

She couldn't tell if she had gone blind or had closed her eyes. She couldn't _feel_ herself blink, so she wasn't sure that she actually was blinking. She hoped that she hadn't gone blind, but it was hard to tell.

 _ **"Don't be afraid."**_

It was that voice, that _phrase_ again. She tried to twist, to turn, searching for the voice.

 _"Enough. You startled her."_

 _Who is there?_ she wanted to call out, but her voice would not work.

 _"Child, you need not know what we are called. Just know that it is not time for you to be reunited with the one you have been taken form yet."_

 _What?!_ she wanted to scream. _Why not?! He's my brother!_

 _ **"Peace, Child. Peace. You will understand in time. Consciously, at least. Unconsciously, you already do."**_

Mariel wanted to demand answers, to scream and cry and throw a tantrum. Who were these strange voices to keep her from her brother? Who were they to dare keep them apart? She didn't understand, didn't _want_ to understand.

 ** _"Peace and_** _You will understand,_ _ **Child,"**_ the voices mingled together.

Suddenly, she was standing and she stumbled, a cry wrenching from her throat. She could hazily see the outline of the road that she was on, could vaguely see the world around her as she fell to her knees. She wanted to scream, but refrained and swallowed her words. The cold wind chilled her as she slowly stood up, eyes straining to see the dark world around her. She was alone, she was lost, she was cold, and most of all, she wanted her twin brother back. Even so, she swallowed her tears and her pain. She picked a direction and began to walk, moving to the side of the road just in case and stuck to following it.

She hoped that she really would understand, eventually. She hated not knowing something when it concerned her brother.

* * *

 **Alright, so I've finished editing this chapter entirely. Took a bit longer than I expected. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the edited version! I also combined what was previously two chapters into a single chapter for this. Just felt smoother and worked better.**


	6. Chapter Six: Talks in the Night

**I've edited this chapter, like I did the last one. It's necessary since I removed a character that previously should _not_ have been added.**

* * *

Jazz was quiet as he stared at the sky, lying on his back in his bipedal form. They'd all bunkered down the for the night, the weight of loss heavy on everyone's sparks and hearts. Mikaela, Sam, and Mariel had all been captured by a government group called "Sector Seven" along with Bumblebee, leaving them all bitter and down trodden. Those most affected were Jazz, Yomi, and Optimus Prime himself. Jazz was affected because he had helped raised Bumblebee and had taken Mariel's capture personally, as he was supposed to be her protector. In the end, she had protected him. Yomi was taking it the hardest because it was her girlfriend who was kidnapped, and Optimus was taking it rather hard because he had also helped care for Bumblebee. Jazz suspected that the leader had also immediately grown attached to at least the twins.

::Something is on your mind, Jazz::

Jazz gave a rueful grin when his leader spoke to him via a private comm so as not to let others listen in and to let the human on his chest sleep peacefully. Jazz had refused to let Yomi sleep anywhere besides directly on him in some way, fearing that, should he fall into recharge, he would awaken to find she had been spirited away in the middle of the night.

::I shoudda don' bettah, Prime:: Jazz said over the comm. ::She was mah cha'ge, yet Ah let 'er get capt'ued. Least 'Bee go' capt'ued _wit'_ 'is cha'ges::

::We cannot change the past, Jazz. We can, however, look to the future and not allow their sacrifices to go in vain. Bumblebee would want us to keep going, as would the spar- children.:: Optimus said, catching himself. It was uncanny how sparkling-like humans appeared and tended to act. Violent, rational sparklings, but sparklings. ::We may have not had time to properly bond in some way with the children, but they di- _do_ have a strong sense of right and wrong. They were willing to accompany us so that our mission would not fail.::

::Ah _know_ , Prime, bu' tha' don't make this any easiah:: Jazz replied, glancing down at where Yomi slept, curled over his sparkchamber.

 ** _Activate Sparkling Protocols? Yes/No_**

::Ah... Prime? Do yah HUD keep-::

::Asking if I wish to reactivate my sparkling protocols? Yes. At least, it _was_ when the spa- children were in front of me. It reacted strongest to Samuel, however. Is yours reacting strongly to Yomi?:: Optimus replied.

::Yes. Wha' shoul' Ah do?::

::... What does your spark tell you to do, Jazz?:: Optimus asked. ::We cannot rightfully take full claim of the children, though we _can_ however act as their caretakers while they are away from their creators. Make no mistake- while the Allspark _is_ our first priority, we _will_ find a way to retrieve Bumblebee and the children _peacefully_.::

Jazz thought what his leader said over, knowing that this was true. Jazz sighed in contentment as he made his choice, watching as the protocol activated. He found himself becoming hyper-aware of Yomi and her condition. He took in the fact she was shivering and gently rested a palm over her, letting it act as a shelter and blanket. He immediately noticed the result- she stopped shivering (however slight it had been in the first place), she snuggled more into him, and she fully relaxed. He smiled softly, taking in how she reacted just as he had expected a sparkling to do.

How he had expected _his_ sparkling to do. He accepted that he couldn't claim her _fully_ as his, but for now she _was_ _his_ sparkling. His sparkling. Prowl would glitch when he discovered Jazz had become a sire in _any_ capacity, biological or adoptive. Not to mention to an _alien_ sparkling. The thought made Jazz smile even more, as it was nice to be a sire. Out of curiosity, Jazz looked up human terms for creators since he hadn't done that before. _Let's see... "Dad", "Father", "Daddy", and "Papa", huh? Humans sure have a lot of ways to address their sire. "Dad" and "Father" are both more formal, so that's like saying "Generator". Let's see... Well, actually, "Dad" is more like saying "Sire". "Papa" would probably be more like saying "Creator"... Or would it be the other way around with "Sire" and "Creator"? "Daddy" is rather unique, however,_ Jazz thought as he researched what he could. _Mother, Mom, Mama, and Mommy? Yeesh. Let's see... Yeah, no, we have no equivalents besides "Creator" and "Carrier". Well, there are slight variations within our language that equal each of the eight words, but only four can be translated to the human languages._

Jazz was pulled out of his thoughts when his leader suddenly stood up. The others were in recharge (how could they recharge after the loss of Bumblebee and three of their charges?), Optimus and Jazz choosing to remain as guards. Jazz carefully sat up, cradling Yomi in a hand against his spark. As he did so, he slowly stood up, searching for danger as he quietly changed his free servo into a blaster.

::Prime, what's up?:: Jazz asked, ditching the accent and broken speech. ::Decepticons? Sector Seven?::

::Unknown:: Optimus replied. ::I briefly detected a flare up of energy, but it's gone currently. I plan to investigate.::

::Did you get anything else? Or just that?:: Jazz inquired, keeping Yomi close. ::Which way was it?::

::The west:: Optimus replied. ::Other than that energy reading, no. I caught nothing else.::

Jazz glanced at Yomi. He wanted to follow his leader, but didn't want to bring her if there was potential danger. While he was debating this, Optimus had already begun to walk off. Jazz decided he would follow and merely make a quick escape if there was danger. He wasn't ready to let Yomi be set somewhere else, but he also wasn't going to let his leader go off alone.

* * *

Mariel shivered as she kept walking, her eyes still not quite adjusted to the darkness. _This is what I get for living in a city,_ she thought sourly. _And for my love of short-sleeved shirts._ She kept walking, though, not really keeping an eye on her surroundings. She was mostly lost in thought, heart heavy from the fact that her chance to see her twin again had been taken from her. _Stupid, other-worldly beings,_ she mentally sighed. She was tired, cold, and hungry. She didn't have the energy to remain upset. She blinked when she was suddenly not on the ground, but rather being held against something. Panic flashed through her and she shrieked, thrashing.

"'Ey! Lil' Spa'k! Easy! It's just meh!"

That snapped Mariel out of it, causing her to glance up as she tried to calm her racing heart. She stared at Jazz's relieved yet worried optics, registering that it was just him. She calmed down, glad it hadn't been a 'Con or something. She then glared up at him to cover up her embarrassment.

"Don't do that! Humans can't see very well in the dark, Jazz! Not only that, but you lot are oddly quiet for giant robots!" she scolded. "Christ, Jazz. You scared the shit outta me!"

The mech had the decency to look sheepish at that, admitting that his relief at the fact she had been returned, unharmed, override his logic processor.

"Sorr', Lil' Spa'k," Jazz apologized. "But, uh, how did ya' get away...?"

Mariel mulled over what to tell him, wondering what she could say without sounding crazy.

"Truthfully, I'm not sure what happened," she finally admitted. "I was in their vehicle one minute and the next I was on the side of the road."

"That would account for the unknown energy spike," Optimus observed, causing Mariel to jump since she hadn't noticed him. "I am glad that you are unharmed, young one. I apologize, however, for the fact that we were unable to protect you and the other two from this group. I am aware that your spark-twin means much to you."

Mariel blinked at his use of "spark-twin", but choose to ignore it. She figured it was easier for them to use terms they were familiar with rather than use human terms. Even if it seemed like even _more_ effort to add the "spark" before "twin". Shaking her head, she focused a glare on the Prime, though it was not as hostile as it usually was. Mariel didn't think about why she was considerably _less_ hostile towards the Prime than she should have been when it came to this topic.

"Explain to me _exactly_ what happened to get _my_ twin brother _kidnapped_ ," she demanded calmly, managing to keep her anger in check. It wouldn't due to lash out at the Prime, whom was large enough to squish her.

The next half hour was spent explaining what had happened to get her brother kidnapped. Mariel was absolutely _furious_ \- partially at the Prime, but more so at this so-called "Sector Seven" group. She didn't think about why she wasn't more angry at the Prime and focused on the fact that some random government group had made the mistake of kidnapping her twin. When they were done with their part, she explained what happened in the car to the best of her abilities. She made sure to mention how Banacheck seemed to be expecting her to suddenly vanish, though she wasn't sure why.

"This is an interesting development," Optimus said after a bit, Mariel finally noticing how quiet everyone was talking.

Mariel discovered why when she discovered that Jazz was holding her sleeping girlfriend against his spark, while everyone else slept. Mariel realized with a start that she had been so focused on her brother she hadn't bothered to inquire about Yomi's wellbeing or even worry about what was happening to Bumblebee or Mikaela. This concerned her, but she managed to keep ahold of herself. _It's because he's my brother and they hadn't mentioned Yomi being in danger,_ Mariel reasoned. _Plus I've only known Bumblebee for a little while. Not long enough to be too concerned about his well-being. As for Mikaela... Well I've never been fond of her._

Mariel knew those thoughts were a lie. There was something else keeping her focused on her brother, like in her bizarre dream. She took a deep breathe to steady herself, forcing herself to not dwell on her disturbing realization. She focused on Optimus, focusing on certain things Optimus had said.

"Optimus? Why did you refer to Sam as my "spark-twin"?" she asked him.

"Ah, my apologies, Mariel. I had forgotten that you humans focus more on the "physical" aspect of being related instead of the... "Spiritual" part. From reports concerning you and Samuel that I was given, but only just had time to review, I noticed something significant. You appear to be able to tell, if only vaguely, when something is off with Samuel, correct?"

"Yeah. It's not often and I remember it used to happen a lot more when we were little," Mariel replied, uncertain what he was getting at. "It's not uncommon between twins here on Earth and is why there used to be... Experiments conducted on twins during certain wars on Earth. Why?"

"On Cybertron, such occurrences are common between all twins. That means normal twins, bond-twins, and spark-twins," Optimus replied. "It is strongest in spark-twins, however. It is a mental-emotional bond that all Cybertronians can develop with their siblings and creators as well as sparkmates. Bonds like that appear to be rare except in cases of human carrier-sparkling bonds, referred to as "mother's intuition", and certain types of twins. After looking over what occurs between you and Samuel, I looked into similar cases that happened all over the world. From what I can tell, it only happens between bond-siblings, a _very_ rare thing for this planet, and spark-twins. Spark-twins is actually referring to two types of twins. There are split-spark twins, whom once shared a spark that split into two, and just "spark-twins". From what I can tell, split-spark twins are common on this planet, though the representation of split-spark twins is a bit more... Physical in that they once were going to develop into one body that became two."

Mariel blinked as she tried to keep up with what Optimus was telling her.

"On this planet, simple "spark-twins" are less common than split-spark twins. Spark-twins refer to twins who are _not_ split-spark twins, yet show the same level of bond and caring for one another as a split-spark twin pair. With spark-twins, however, it's more common for that bond to... Decrease over time and for only one of them to still show the same level of caring," Optimus continued. "You and Samuel were not "split-spark twins". You are merely "spark-twins". Though, I believe the human term for a spark would be "soul". It basically means that your souls are connected in a way similar to split-soul twins."

Mariel nodded before yawning, barely able to keep up with all the information. She blinked when she was suddenly higher than before and looking down at Jazz and Yomi. She realized she had been handed to Optimus for some reason, but shrugged the thought off. She merely curled up, too tired to really think much about what she just learned or what was going on. She was just too damn exhausted, emotionally and physically. As she began to doze off, she barely registered that she seemed to by lying on Optimus' chest or that she suddenly wasn't cold anymore.

* * *

Optimus watched quietly as Mariel fell asleep, relief flooding him that one of the missing sparklings had been returned to them unharmed. He would have Ratchet scan her in the morning to be certain- he'd forced the medic to learn more about earth medicine. The medic had been hesitant, not being very fond of any humans, minus the four. Ratchet had finally agreed when Optimus suggested the sparklings might need it should they run into Decepticons. Something that was highly possible.

Optimus remembered when he had first turned on his sparkling protocols- it was shortly after he got his alt. mode. He had been curious as to _what_ his HUD was identifying as sparklings and had been shocked upon turning it on. He hadn't lied when he said his protocols reacted strongly to the twins- Samuel especially. He just hadn't mentioned he'd already had the protocols _on_. His HUD had identified most humans under the age of thirty as first-frame sparklings, while those thirty and up were identified as being second-frames. This was a curious thing that Optimus wanted Ratchet to look in, but he would leave that for later.

Optimus shifted lightly when Mariel began to whimper, quieting her and making the beginnings of a nightmare vanish. He had learned all he could about humans to ensure such things weren't a danger to the humans. He studied the girl, understanding why his HUD hadn't reacted as strongly to her as it had to Samuel. Mariel was highly tolerant of pain from what the reports on her from Bumblebee and Jazz had shown and she was headstrong. She acted somewhat older than what his HUD claimed her age was and what her actual age was. In comparison, Samuel appeared much more vulnerable and in need of a caretaker compared to his twin. Optimus was certain this was a side-effect of them being spark-twins, Mariel taking the "dominant" twin role.

::These four certainly are a unique quartet::

Optimus' optics flickered to where Ironhide lay, his optics offline. ::Indeed, old friend. They act much like sparklings combined with younglings. Well, Mariel registers as a sparkling-adult combination.::

::Indeed. I find this curious. They clearly _aren't_ sparklings, yet our protocols identify them as such. Ratchet has already taken to the femme known as "Mikaela Banes". I find it interesting you took to the main pair, while Jazz took to his second charge.::

::Yes, it _is_ quite curious, isn't it?:: Optimus mulled. ::Mariel is much more perceptive than her brother, yet her brother has something she doesn't. An inner courage that only shows in the face of danger.::

::Reminds me of somebot.::

::Ironhide.::

::What? Ya' know it's true!::

:: _Please_ refrain from mentioning it to the twins, however. Or the ones they are courting.::

::Fine, fine. Ratchet and Jazz agree with me, however.::

::We barley know them!::

::Didn't stop three of you from adopting them, now did it?::

Optimus sighed silently, knowing that Ironhide was correct in that. Despite knowing them for a very short amount of time, they all had grown attached. Even if Ironhide wasn't about to admit it. The only ones who had excuses for the connection were Jazz and Bumblebee, as they had known the quartet for at least a week now. That was long enough by human terms to form some kind of attachment. Optimus was still trying to wrap his CPU on why he and Ratchet had become so attached to a specific one of the four (two in Optimus' case). This made Optimus worry that something could be wrong with their home lives that they weren't seeing immediately.

Glancing down at Mariel, he scanned her with the scanner he had adjusted for humans once the children had decided to come with them. There was nothing to indicate physical abuse that he could find and there weren't signs of other abuse. Even then, he knew that he shouldn't have become so attached so quickly. Something had to be off. Was it merely the fact that all humans were categorized as sparklings by his protocols and programming? If that was true, then his sparkling protocols must be assuming they were all orphans caring for each other.

::It's amazing how they are so vulnerable, yet so strong. These two have been separated from the others and have already faced down Barricade once. Even so, they've all yet to completely freak out.:: Ironhide said after a bit.

::Indeed. I fear, however, for them. With this courage, they may believe they can handle more than they actually can. For humans they may be near-adults, but they are still very young.::

::Let us rest for now, Prime. I am certain that nothing will harm us for now.::

Optimus certain hoped Ironhide was correct, but he was still worried. They had already lost Bumblebee and two of the human-sparklings, had nearly lost Mariel to the same people. People he knew better than to underestimate and consider sparklings. As he gazed at young Mariel, who was sleeping rather soundly, he felt the matrix flare with something. Foreboding. Whatever was to come, he knew it would scar the child before him deeply. He just hoped the strength she had shown thus far, along with her hot-headedness, would be enough for her to recover from whatever happened next.

* * *

 **This chapter didn't need as much edited, which I'm glad for. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this edited version!**


	7. Chapter Seven: Connection

**Edit: I left the A/N's the same since there was no need to change them.**

 **I'm very, _very_ proud of myself right now. I have reached Chapter Eight (Nine, if you count the Prologue). While my longest story is somewhere around 14 chapters, this is my longest _Transformers_ fanfic currently. While I don't know how many chapters this story will have, I assure you it's a bit a ways from being done.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I only own Mariel Witwicky, Yomi Peirce, and this plot. Everything else belongs to their original creators.**

 _ **Reviews**_

 _ **AutobotGuy710: I have no clue how you fell behind "randomly". I'm glad that you like this story so much! I'm quite proud of myself, as it is the best version I have ever written of this story, which I have attempted to write at least six other times before now.**_

 **KEY**

"Talking."

 **"Cybertronian."**

 _"Radio-clips"_

 _Thoughts/Dream/Flashback_ (If it's a dream or a flashback, I will also ensure that you all know)

 _"Phone."_

::Comms::

* * *

 _It was dark as she attempted to look around, confusion filling her as she tried to figure out where she was. The cold sting of chains on her wrists and a collar on her neck the only thing that reassured her she was awake, that she was alive. She wasn't sure where she was, she just knew that she wasn't safe. That Sam was in danger and that no-one knew where she was._

 _"What do you want?!" she screamed into the blackness, the silence getting to her._

 _She hated the dark, hated silence. She was afraid of it because it meant that she was all alone. It was vague, but she remembered a time where she was trapped in a similar manner to this, back when she was very little. She couldn't remember what happened exactly, but she did know that it had been absolutely terrifying to experience because there was no concept of time, no one to talk to. No one to play with._

 _No one to protect._

 _She didn't like it, she needed someone to protect, someone who needed her. She needed to be needed by someone, to be depended on. She didn't know why she needed this, but she did._

 ** _It's alright, little one. Do not be afraid._**

 _That voice, she knew that voice. That voice was warmth, was kindness, was friendly, was motherly. She knew this voice, she knew it and she loved it. It meant that she was needed, meant that she was loved._

 ** _A danger is approaching, little one. You know what you must do, don't you?_**

 _"I do, but I don't understand why I must do it."_

 _ **All will be revealed with Time, little one. I promise**._

 _"He will be alright, though?"_

 ** _Of course He will._**

 _"Okay."_

 _She was calm, there was no reason to be afraid. A soft light was now glowing, flowing from somewhere and evaporating the chains that were on her. She didn't know where, but she relaxed at knowing it was there. It meant that He was there, that He was safe even if only for now. That was good, that was nice. It was good to know that, despite what she would loose, He would remain safe She was sad she would lose Her, however._

 _It was okay, though, because He would be fine._

* * *

They had gotten an early start, their destination a location that Mariel and Yomi remembered from their History class. The Hover Dam was an important monument in American history and something that they had both wanted to see, though it was interesting to think that it might be hiding something as important as an alien artifact. The Allspark, Mariel recalled it being called. It was kind of like how humans called Earth "Mother Earth", "Gaia", "Gaea", and "Mother Nature".

"How far are we from the Hover Dam?" Mariel asked Jazz curiously.

"We're still around five or six hours off from the Dam," Jazz responded, having dropped the accent for some reason.

"Jazz?"

"Yea?"

"Why'd you loose the accent?"

"Huh? Oh, that," Jazz sounded oddly sheepish. "I only use things like that when I'm relaxed. I've been... Tense... Since the experience with Sector Seven. Especially now that I know that Lil' 'Bee has been kidnapped by them along with the other spa- children."

Mariel blinked, having noticed that the Cybertronians kept having to consciously correct themselves and call them "children". She was curious as to why, but refrained from asking. Mariel looked over at her girlfriend, who looked bored as all heck. This caused Mariel to get a wicked grin and lean over, fingers dancing over Yomi's sides. Yomi shrieked in response, laughter shortly following from both girls.

Neither had noticed how the Autobots all jolted and swerved a bit, too wrapped up in what had quickly escalated into a tickle-war. The Autobots marveled at how unworried they were, reminding the Autobots that they weren't just children- they were children that had never been exposed to war and thought that their friends were just fine. The bots feared experimentation, but the kids weren't phased in the slightest.

They recalled how that morning had gone, when Yomi awoke and saw that Mariel was back with them. They had been surprised when Yomi had launched at the girl, pulling her into a fierce kiss that had caught Mariel, who had been half-asleep still, off-guard and left her dazed. After that, Yomi had scolded Mariel for attempting to be a hero and had lectured her on worrying Yomi like that. In order to shut Yomi up, Mariel had instigated another kiss, allowing the Autobots to observe one of the courting/mating practices of a human.

It reminded them of when a Cybertronian would nuzzle their courted, mate, sibling, or creator in a certain way to convey affection. Nuzzling was one of the few ways that Cybertronians displayed affection physically, so it was interesting to observe something similar being practiced by humans. Of course, Ratchet had interrupted their make-out session by informing them that now wasn't the best time to mate, causing the girls to pull apart quicker than Blurr could move. The girls had stuttered for a while, trying to explain to Ratchet that kisses and make-out session rarely led to human mating. This, of course, had prompted Ratchet ask about what did instigate it for future reference. The girls had both proceeded to impersonate a pair of cherries, which was impressive for Yomi given her darker complexion.

That was when the Autobots had noticed how the girls relaxed, as though something had reassured them that everyone was fine as everyone laughed about the whole thing. The war was far from the girls' minds, but that wasn't surprising given that no Decepticons had yet to attempt to attack the Autobots. This was suspicious, all things considered, and worried the Autobots deeply as they closed in on the Hover Dam. Even so, the Autobots found themselves relishing in the girls' childish antics, as it was a refreshing change from the war they were used to.

When the girls had at last calmed down from their playful bout that had reminded the Autobots that they had involved innocents in their war, Mariel noticed something in Jazz's review mirror. It was a haunting sight, forcing the girl to recall the hospital trip that she had buried in her memories, damned to be forgotten until the sight brought them back full force. The young girl forced herself to relax as it caught up with them and passed them without a care, the girl thankful Jazz's holoform was "driving". Mariel relaxed after the police cruiser that reminded her of a certain 'Con was out of sight, making her sigh in relief.

"Y' al'ight there, Lil' Spark?" Jazz asked, causing Mariel to blink.

"Y-yeah. I guess I'm not going to be trusting black and white police cruisers for a while, however," she replied after a bit.

Jazz's holoform nodded, understanding that she was likely to have some form of trauma after a 'Con landed her in the hospital. He was amazed at how she had managed to ignore it, causing him to begin to look up things about the human psyche. His findings caused him to send data-packets to his comrades, marking them as urgent and human related. Through the private comms., Jazz heard their interested discussions over the findings and about how amazingly resilient yet fragile a human's mind was. It was fascinating to know that such fragile creatures were as equally resilient to make up for said fragileness. Jazz knew, however, that they had just barely scratched the surface of human history, psychology, and other things. They barely knew anything about humans and were learning so much by merely watching two near-adults of the human race, who registered as sparklings to most of them.

This of course led back to the topic of why Mariel was seen as an older youngling, like Bumblebee, instead of a sparkling. Yomi and Mikaela also registered as younglings, although they appeared to be in the younger stages of youngling hood that allowed for them to still be viewed as sparklings, kind of like Skids and Mudflap. This brought their attention to Sam as they tried to figure out why he registered as a full-blown sparkling to them, something they didn't quite understand. As the others discussed it, Jazz returned his attention to Mariel and Yomi, who were relaxing.

"Oh shit!"

Jazz's holoform jumped at the sudden exclamation from Yomi, as if she just realized something. "Jazz, we don't have any of the stuff we need!" Yomi said, in realization. "No food, water, or change of clothes!"

"Oh yeah... S-7 caused Jazz to transform and that dumped all of our stuff..." Mariel said, frowning. "We don't even have any money."

"Who said we need money?" Yomi asked, turning to Mariel with an odd glint. "At least, who said we need our money?"

"... What are you suggesting, Yomi?"

"Mariel, you're feared throughout school because you're a hacker! Can't you, I don't know, hack an ATM or something?"

"You mean steal someone's money? Yomi, there is a huge difference between hacking something with little to no security like someone's phone or account on some site and hacking a fucking bank with actual security."

"C'mon, at least try! I'm hungry!" Yomi whined.

"Yomi, no," Mariel said firmly. "I told myself when I started learning to hack that I would never use it for something like that! I think we can go a few hours without food."

"But not without water," Yomi retorted. "We need something to keep us hydrated!"

"I'm not hacking a bank or becoming a thief!"

"Why not? You're already being hunted by the government!"

"That's a corrupt, psychotic group that probably thinks that we're going to make it beyond the 4th Kind!" Mariel finally snapped.

This, of course, caught the attention of their alien friends, who noticed that this "4th Kind" seemed to be significant.

"Mariel, we've officially gotten to the 5th Kind," Yomi pointed out.

"I meant beyond that."

"... You mean... They think...? Uh, I don't think that's possible with their kind of species..."

"They never said it had to be biological!"

"Yomi, Mariel," Optimus interrupted, causing the girls to jump lightly as they were brought out of their discussion. "What are these numbered "Kinds" you're talking of?"

"Hynek's Scale of Close Encounters," Mariel replied. "The First Kind is UFO- that is, Unidentified Flying Object -sightings, such as with your... Uh..."

"Cometary forms?"

"Yes," Yomi said, taking over. "The Second Kind is something like the appearance of crop circles or the impacts your cometary forms left."

"Then there's the Third Kind," Mariel said, picking back up. "Which is the first sighting of a UFO's inhabitant/pilot/etc. Such as what happened with Barricade- we saw him, but we didn't directly interact with him."

"The Fourth Kind is abduction, which I believe our government will view what happened with me and Mariel," Yomi explained. "The Fifth Kind is what has actually happened between all of us. Direct communication."

"Yeesh," Ironhide butted in over the comms. "That's a lot of "encounter" types. Even so, I can get it. What's so bad about the Sixth, though?"

Mariel and Yomi shared an uneasy, uncertain look. After a few minutes of silence, Mariel was the one who ended up answering.

"We weren't talking about the Sixth. We were talking about the Seventh. The Sixth is the death of a human and/or animal associated a UFO/Alien sighting," she explained. "As for the Seventh Kind of Encounter... That's, um..."

"Hybridization, weather through reproduction or by artificial scientific methods," Yomi supplied, wincing at the thought. "Its a little weird to think about, but that's the bit our government will end up focusing on in the end. Especially this "Sector Seven" since, thinking about it, they're oddly interested in you guys. It's not a nice thought, but they might be looking to create a hybrid somehow."

"That would be biologically impossible," Ratchet scoffed. "There is no way our races are in anyway compatible, even through use of science!"

"Won't stop them from trying if they're anything like the fanatics in the movie called Alien," Mariel scoffed. "When you're power-hungry, very little will persuade you that it's a horrendous idea to attempt something. Besides, what do you actually know about our biology anyways? You've never tried any form of attempt at hybridization before, so you can't say it's impossible!"

"Yet you don't seem to worried about Mikaela and Samuel," Optimus cut in, attempting to shift focus from that uncomfortable topic.

"I'm not worried because we're the good guys. We always arrive in the nick of time!" Yomi declared, causing the Autobots to internally wince.

"I'm not worried because they revealed that they're interested in both me and Sam," Mariel said after a moment. "I don't think they'll to anything that too horrible to Sam until they have me too. I... I've been trying to not think about Bumblebee and what they might be doing to him. I'm also hoping that your metal is still foreign enough to them that they can't do all that much to him."

::Mariel appears to have a more realistic thought process than Yomi:: Ironhide

::They are younglings that have never seen war until now. They're bound to be unrealistic and compare to things they have knowledge about. It's very unlikely they even understand the full extent of war.:: Ratchet

::Even so, I pray that they are correct in that the other children will be left unharmed for now. Bumblebee, I feel, will be fine. Mariel is correct in that it is highly unlikely they fully understand the physiology of our kind or have anything that can melt through the armor of those that are above their fourth youngling frame in age.:: Optimus

::Humans are also very odd with their thoughts on this "Seventh Kind." Such a thing is clearly impossible!:: Ratchet

::We also thought that Techno-Organics were impossible until the Decepticons created their "Pretender" drones. It's like Mariel said - we can't know unless someone tries it.:: Jazz

::Jazz has a point. We need to be careful. One never knows until it's too late:: Ironhide

* * *

 _The darkness was suffocating, scaring him deeply. He could only faintly feel that comforting feeling that always kept him calm, that soothed his soul. She was near, She was there. He smiled to himself as the darkness receded slightly as he focused on Her. She had been the first thing he had known since they had left Light upon their day of birth. He could feel Her worry, Her uncertainty and reached out as best he could, though he felt sluggish. He felt Her wash of relief, though knew it was unconscious. They couldn't do this when they both were conscious, which meant he was unconscious._

 _He remembered when they had been able to do it while conscious, so long ago. They had been able to meet each other in their dreams, but they couldn't any longer. It was a side effect of being Human, blocking them from reaching each other more consciously. The bond was there, but it was faint and weak. He wished it wasn't so and that he could reach Her more easily. He wished he knew why Light had chosen this path for them. The only thing he knew was that it was important to Project _, something that could not be interrupted no matter what._

 _They both knew that it couldn't be interrupted, both knew that it was important to Light that it succeeded. Trouble was on the way, he could sense it quite well. He knew that She sensed it while unconscious as well and also knew that it must come to pass._

 _A broken, desolate city began to form around him, the buildings crumbling and the smell of burning flesh stinging his nose. Blood stains slowly began to appear, as did an odd blue liquid spilt on the ground. Screams and the sound of metal on metal slowly began to fill the "air" around him, causing him to twitch slightly. The nightmare he wouldn't remember was beginning._

* * *

Mariel wondered how in the world she had managed to allow herself to get talked into trying to hack a bank with the guidance of Jazz, who wanted to help her boost her hacking skills. She really hated how, when Optimus got involved, it was damn near impossible to continue to say "no" to whatever was being asked. She was pretty sure his voice alone could brainwash even the most sadistic of humans into complying with his will.

"You need to relax," Jazz said, sipping casually at the drink he bought, hiding his smile.

Mariel glared at him over the top of the borrowed (stolen) computer, unhappy with her guardian. Breaking rules on their planet might fly (they had a severely corrupt government apparently), but things were no where near as bad on Earth. There was no need to do this- except for the part where Autobots can be insufferably impatient, Optimus being the worst of the lot. In that light, she wondered how they had time to hack a friggin' bank from the McDonalds across the street from it.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Mariel muttered as she continued to type, trying to get past the firewall.

"Yer too tense, Mari'," Jazz said again. "Yah look su'picious like that'."

Mariel's eye twitched, but she refrained from snapping. She couldn't cause a scene when she was trying to break the law, even if she wanted to make a scene to help her calm down. She wasn't sure how she knew, but Sam was scared and this was waiting time. She could go hungry, but she also knew the Autobots wouldn't let her. Wait, why did she suddenly care this was waiting time? Sam would be fine- but he was scared, that meant that he was in danger.

Mariel shook her head, trying to clear it as she grew more tense. Suddenly, there were hands on her shoulders, causing her head to snap to the side. Her eyes met the eyes of Jazz's holoform, causing her to jerk in shock. When had he gotten there and why were his glasses not covering his eyes? She was vaguely aware of the fact that he looked worried for some reason.

"Perhaps we should take a different approach," the mech said softly. "Come. Let's go and report it as a fail. We'll find another way."

Mariel just nodded and followed him, her head feeling funny. Sam was in danger, she needed to get to Sam- she shook her head. Sam was fine. The government wouldn't hurt him just for being around an alien. Even so, she needed to get to him quickly, just to be sure. What is wrong with me? Mariel wondered as she crawled into Jazz's alt, curling up as she tried to quiet her thoughts. As she did, she was vaguely aware of the concern that the Autobots had for her, vaguely aware that Yomi and Jazz were trying to talk to her.

Why did the sound of their voices make her head hurt?

* * *

During the first italics scene, imagine that the bolded italics that represent a being sound like the Daedric Prince Vaermina from _The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim_. If you don't know who that is or what she sounds like, go on YouTube and look up "Vaermina quotes." That will give you her voice.


	8. Chapter Eight: Facades

**Edit: Left the A/N the same on this one as well.**

 **Okay, so I lied about this being my longest _Transformers_ story so far, as _Imaginations the Limit_ beats it with 13 total chapters. However, I believe this _will_ become my longest _Transformers_ story, as it won't end at just the end of the movie. The plot of this one will extend beyond as, like I mentioned before, the Decepticons are _not_ the main antagonists this go-around. Also, like with _UWtH_ , I have removed the key for this chapter, plus every later chapter, so that I can focus on the length of the story and make the bulk _not_ be the A/N.**

 **Also, I just found out that Sam technically lives in South Gate, California. This is, at the most, 5 hours and 53 minutes from Hoover Dam. For the story, we're going to pretend that Sam does not live in South Gate and that it would take closer to a day to arrive there at the most. My apologies. I just thought to look up where Sam is supposed to be living and where Mission City is.**

 **Also, I noticed I accidentally labeled the last chapter as Chapter Nine when it was really Chapter Eight. My apologies.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I only own Mariel Witwicky, Yomi Peirce, and this plot. Everything else belongs to their original creator(s).**

* * *

 _The city around me was crumbling, the ground shaking as metal titans clashed all around me. I ran as fast as I could, heart breaking as I heard the calls of someone I loved dearly behind me, trying to get me to stop. She knew what I was thinking, as she always did. This had to be stopped, however, and I knew it. I knew how they would react, I could see where this would go so easily- but I would not risk the entire world just to live and try to maintain a good relationship between our two peoples._

 _I saw the man ahead of me, guarding the pillar I was running towards. I knew how this would end, knew that it would hurt them, that it would break her. I could see_ him _from the corner of my eye, saw how he caught sight of me. My heart broke as I saw the look on his face, saw the pleading in his optics. The man was within distance now and we were just the right distance from the pillar. I launched my self forward-_

 _The scene changed, I was no longer in a broken city, lunging forward. The desert I was in was harsh, unforgivable, but I could not feel the heat. Before me was a woman in a dress made of flowing, liquid metal. It looked almost like silk, but was something more like mercury. She wore a sad smile, eyes closed as she 'looked' at me. Despite the sorrow in her smile and the way her eyes were closed, she looked serene. Like she was sleeping. Her mouth open, then closed, but there was no sound. I could not read her lips, could not make out what she was saying to me._

 _In the distance behind her, seven figures towered as though waiting. What were they waiting for? I did not understand, my mind replaying the earlier part of the dream. That, too, made no sense, as I tried to understand what was happening. Who was this woman, who were the towering figures in the distance?_

 _Waiting. We were waiting._

 _Darkness surrounded me once again, like before. Something was wrong, something was creeping. There was evil in this darkness, it wasn't like before. Evil was afoot, something lurking in the darkness. I tried to see, to strain my eyes, but I couldn't see anything in the consuming darkness. What was this dark presence that I felt?_

 _Red. It glares at me through the darkness, the glow blinding after the darkness. The presence I feel is the owner of those two red glowing optics, the evil seeps from it in waves. The optics flicker blue for a moment, illuminating a cruel smile and an outstretched hand. It wasn't me to come to it, to join it in... In what? I don't understand, but I attempt to distance myself from the all consuming darkness that comes off of it in waves._

 ** _Don't be afraid. I won't harm you._**

 _I kept backing up, finding that I could not answer this creature as it came closer to me. I could barely make out a feminine figure, but I didn't much care about that considering I just wanted away from the darkness they emitted._

 ** _What's wrong, little one?_**

 _There was a cruel undertone to their words, spoken in a female voice. I didn't trust them, they weren't like the woman from just moments ago. I was scared, finally risking turning by back to them and just running. Their voice sounded from everywhere, a playful tone to their voice._

 ** _Now, now, little one! Don't run~. I just want to... Talk._**

 _I didn't believe them._

* * *

"SAM!"

Sam's head shot up from where it was lying on the desk, the boy quickly jumping from his chair and backing against the nearest wall. His heart was pounding as his eyes searched, looking for who had called out to him. After a moment, his eyes landed on the black haired, brown-eyed girl that was his crush. Mikaela looked concerned and shocked, standing next to where he had been sitting. Sam relaxed when he realized he had been having a very bizarre, very vivid dream. His hand was over his heart as he took deep breaths, managing to convince himself that the dream was a result from what had been happening lately.

"Are... Are you okay, Sam?" Mikaela asked hesitantly, her tanned hand moving to reach out before immediately retracting back to her side. "You seemed to be having a nightmare."

"I... Yeah," Sam replied after a moment. "Just... Just a dream about them catching Mariel, Yomi, or one of the other 'Bots. I know we haven't known them long but... After what we've been through since arrive to this place... I don't want to chance anything."

Mikaela nodded in agreement, knowing that things could be much worse if the others got caught. Sam sat back down in his chair, once more surveying the tiny, well-lit room they were in. It looked like a stereotypical interrogation room from one of those crime shows on TV, with the one-way mirror, overall greyness of the room, and single table. There was even the place for handcuffs to be attached to the table. Mikaela had one hand cuffed to the table because of her juvy record. Other than that and the door (also grey), there was nothing else worth noticing in the room. Well, besides the untouched plate of donuts, considering neither of them trusted those donuts.

That and Sam had watched way too many crime shows with Mariel late at night in middle school. Sam frowned as he leaned on the table, his mind turning to his sister. He knew she must be worried about him, covering it up with happy-go-luckiness and a tough-girl façade that had the whole school fooled. Sam wished his sister would stop trying to pretend to be something she wasn't, as he knew just how vulnerable she was. The accident he had as a child that got his arm broken had proven just how much his sister depended on and needed him. _That dream was wrong,_ he thought. _I can't ever do something that's self-sacrificing. I can't do anything heroic. It would destroy her if I got killed being a hero._

"Any luck getting those handcuffs off?" he finally asked Mikaela after a long while of silence.

"Not really. I'm not sure what kind of lock these cuffs have, but clearly they learned from when I last picked my cuffs," Mikaela replied. "How you holding up?"

"Just wondering if my sister has had a panic attack yet," Sam said. "She starts to panic when unable to get to me or contact me after a while. She's gotten better, but she's probably still on the verge of freaking out."

"The Hacker of Hell panicking?" Mikaela asked incredulously, giving Sam a look. "Sam, she wouldn't know how to care that much if it hit her in the face. She just as much of a bully as Trent, only using you as an excuse. I doubt she's actually doing what she does because she cares about you."

"You know, that's _real_ funny," Sam said, turning to glare at Mikaela. "I believe you called me out for my dislike of the fact you apparently are considered a criminal, correcting me by saying it was because you wouldn't turn in your dad. What gives you the right to think you can judge my sister? The fact that your life is "worse" than our lives?"

Mikaela was taken off guard by Sam's sudden glare and the hostility in his tone. She was surprised by how _protective_ Sam was being of his sister, like there was something about her that _had_ to be protected. Mikaela had only repeated what the rumors about Mariel had been saying and realize, with a flush of embarrassment, that she had basically done what Sam did. She didn't have all the facts and had _assumed_ something, which she had called Sam out on only to turn around and do the same thing.

"I'm sorry, Sam. It's... It's just a little hard, with the rumors that float around about her at school and the way she acts..." Mikaela started, before realizing that she was trying to make an excuse. "I'm sorry. I'll remember that I don't know her next time."

Satisfied with her answer, Sam stopped glaring and turned his attention to the glass in the room, wondering who was on the other side of it. Was it Simmons? Or was it Simmons' boss, that "Banacheck" he mentioned? Sam knew he couldn't know for certain, though he wished he did so he knew he wouldn't be flipping no one off if he flipped off the glass.

"How long do you think they'll leave us alone in here?" Sam asked, having returned to leaning on his arms.

"I'm honestly not very sure," Mikaela admitted.

Almost like those were the magic words, the door suddenly opened, drawing the attention of the two teens. The man that walked in was dressed sharply, a man who was clearly a businessman, with a bald head and sharp eyes. He sat in the third chair, across from the two teens.

"My apologies. I just got back from attempting to retrieve your sister," Banacheck said. "Luckily, it proved a theory I had regarding her and you. Now, it has come to my attention that you believe that the ones we found you two, along with the ones your sister and Miss Pierce are with, are "good". You called them "Autobots", I believe?"

When neither teen answered him, Banacheck continued.

"Now, from what evidence we can gather these aliens appeared to be after something very specific," Banacheck said. "Would you mind sharing what that is?"

"If I answer that," Sam said slowly, "will you let them get it and leave peacefully?"

"I suppose it depends on what they're looking for and if them going after it can be considered a threat to humanity," Banacheck responded.

"They were after a pair of glasses- my grandfather's glasses. They didn't want to involve humans, but since it was a human who had the glasses, they had to go through me or Mariel. Yomi and Mikaela just got caught in the crossfire," he said. "The glasses have coordinates imprinted in them apparently, which can lead them to what they call the Allspark. It's a really important relic to them, but it _is not_ a weapon." _At least,_ Sam amended in his head, _it on its own isn't. It only is with how Megatron plans to use it's ability._

"I see. And if we allow them to get this... _Allspark_ ," Banacheck said, making sure. "The NBEs will leave? _All_ of them?"

"Yes. The leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, crash landed on Earth because the cube ended up landing here. The Autobots followed the Decepticons to keep them away from the Cube and to protect our planet from them," Sam said. "They'll leave once they have the Cube to draw the Decepticons off the planet."

"Why is the Cube so important?" Banacheck asked.

"It has to do with their culture. They weren't sure how to explain it to us," Sam replied.

"I see," Banacheck said, thinking things over.

Sam and Mikaela glanced at each other, both of them uneasy about Banacheck's look. Sam was certain that they couldn't fully trust this man from the start, but when he looked back at Banacheck and their eyes connected, Sam felt his back muscles go stiff. There was something dark and unkind in the eyes of the man that sat across from him. Sam was briefly reminded of Bobby Bolivia, but this was different. The darkness was deeper and colder than anything that Sam had encountered before, causing a chill to crawl over the boy, the hairs on the back of his neck and his arms raising. Somehow, in someway, Sam knew that it didn't matter what they said. He was also fairly sure that Banacheck had already known a good amount of what Sam had just said, something that he didn't like.

"So, we at least now understand that this Cube holds prevalence in their religion," Banacheck said. "Now, what can you tell us about their war? Is it dangerous to humanity? Their weapons- how diverse are they? Any idea how powerful they are? You understand that we must be prepared incase this other faction you mentioned- Decepticons, correct? -attacks us humans."

"I'm afraid we don't know anything about that," Sam said, which was somewhat of a lie. He could at least describe a few of their weapons- Ironhide loved to brag about his, for certain -but he wouldn't let Banacheck know that. "We didn't see any of their weapons."

He could feel Mikaela's eyes on him, taking note of his posture and stiff words. Sam had gone from calm and collected to stiff and guarded in a matter of seconds. Sam kept contact with Banacheck, waiting to see if the agent would call his slight bluff.

"I see," Banacheck said, standing up and pushing his chair in. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for now. A good associate of mine will return at a later date to question you a bit more, for both the safety of our world and you two. I do warn you- he's a bit... Gruff. Nothing too serious, but do try not to make him mad. He can be quite... Aggressive."

The smile Banacheck gave them before he left made Sam feel like he had just been speaking with the devil himself. Sam shivered the moment he was gone, managing to relax only a fraction. _It doesn't matter what we do or don't say,_ Sam thought. _They're going to try to kill all of them no matter what. They have been judge and jury, proclaiming guilty with no trial._

"... Sam?" Mikaela asked, voice barely above a whisper. "What will we do if they... If they don't care about us? If they'll do anything to get whatever information they can from us?"

"... I don't know," Sam said, sighing as his shoulders slump. "I don't know."

For once, Sam was glad that he was such a good liar when he actually _wanted_ to hide something and didn't have a whole lot of pressure.

* * *

::Prime, something is wrong with Mariel:: Jazz said over the comm., his adopted accent gone. ::She's curled up and not responding. She keeps rocking herself, muttering things. This isn't normal.::

::At the next stop she will ride with me:: Optimus replied, hiding his worry for his new sparkling. ::Do you have any idea what the trigger could've been?::

::No Prime. You got any ideas?:: Jazz responded, worry lacing his voice print.

::We will see:: Optimus replied.

It was around a half hour before they could pull over to switch who Mariel was riding with. Since she was being stubborn and wouldn't move, Optimus activated his holoform to move her himself. His holoform was tanned deeply, similar to an Egyptian, with the signature bright blue eyes of an Autobot. He had dark brown, nearly black hair on his holoform and was very muscular. He stood somewhere around six feet tall.

"Holy," Yomi said, staring at Optimus' holoform. "Damn. I'm starting to understand why strait girls like movie stars. You look just like one and I have to admit that it ain't half bad."

Optimus fought down the smile at Yomi's words, understanding she was complimenting him in that odd Earth way that sounded like disrespect, but wasn't disrespect. He had to admit that he admired the absolute chaotic order of this world, so different from the simple order of Cybertron. When a Cybertronian said things, there was no double meaning to their words. When a human said something, it could be interpreted in so many different ways it was absolutely fascinating. Anything on Earth could be a compliment or an insult and it merely depended on one's perspective and the context of the speaker's words.

"Do you find no attraction in mechs at all?" Optimus asked as he picked up his adopted sparkling, genuinely curious.

"No, I don't find men that appealing," Yomi confirmed. "I tried to date a boy a few times in my freshman year of high school, but... Well, long story short, those were the worst choices I could have made."

Optimus took the hint and didn't press the subject, merely nodding as he moved to his alt. mode. The holoform of the mech climbed into the cab of the alt. mode, careful of Mariel, who was still unresponsive. This caused the mech to frown and move to the sleeper area of his cab. He set her on the bed there, stepping back as she curled up on her side into a ball. He knew that this had to be addressed, so he allowed his attention to be split between his holoform and his alt. mode. It was at times like this that he was glad to be a master of multitasking. As they started driving again, Optimus kept his systems on high alert while he focused mainly on Mariel with driving his secondary focus. He decided to first observe her, needing to know her symptoms first. If he approached this wrong, he could only make it worse. Mariel was indeed muttering to herself constantly, but she was trembling pretty badly. The way she was curled up concerned him the most, however. Her knees were curled to her chest as was normal with the fetal position, but her arms were not curled in front of her face in any way. Instead, he could clearly see her face, her moving lips as she muttered, her screwed shut eyes, and the clear pain and fear on her face. Her arms were curled in a way that they were positioned more on the side of her head, her hands clamped over her ears as though she was trying to block something out.

It took Optimus a moment to register why this was familiar, his holoform's eyes widening as his alt. mode nearly swerved in his shock. Optimus had seen this plenty of times before Cybertron went dark, back when their race was still rather plentiful. Spark-twins, no matter the type, that had been separated by one being captured by the enemy would freak out exactly like this. It was panic attack stemming from a weak or blocked bond, causing the twin that was left to fall into despair, becoming paranoid and to freak out. While Sam and Mariel's bond was likely extremely weak, this was all the proof Optimus needed to confirm the fact that they even had it. Mariel was panicking because she couldn't be certain her brother was safe, meaning that there was little Optimus could do. He did know, however, that he had to comfort her and get her mind off of her twin. If he could manage that, then things would go smoother. He only hoped that they could find Sam soon, seeing as prolonged separation causing this kind of stress could severely damage the twins' mentality.

The Prime's holoform took a deep breath before he allowed his stoic façade to fade, allowing himself to show his emotions freely. He could not be reserved when doing this, knowing he needed to get her attention to shift. She needed a substitute, someone to latch onto until she was reunited with her twin. It was his responsibility to fill the role of the substitute as her adoptive sire, even if she didn't know he had adopted her. Optimus picked her up again, sitting down on the bed and setting her in his lap. He felt somewhat awkward, having not done anything like this since Bumblebee was very young. He angled the young girl so that she was cradled against him, one arm wraped around her shoulders, the other underneath her knees as he cradled her.

 **"** **Min anisycheíte, afródis. Patéras eínai edó, den eíste mónoi,"** Optimus murmured softly to the young one, keeping his voice print soft and gentle. **"Min fovásai,** **tha sigoureftó óti o aderfós sas tha epistrépsei me asfáleia."**

This did the trick to stop her shaking, so Optimus continued to speak soothingly, knowing she could not understand him. However, it was having the desired affect of calming her down. Now that he had her attention, he switched back to English.

"Little One, tell me why you have panicked," he said gently. "Is it your brother?"

"Y-yeah... T-that an-and my head hurts," Mariel replied quietly, looking up at him tearfully. "I-I've been ha-having w-weird d-dre-dreams an-and..."

"Shh," he murmured. "It's alright. Do you know why your head hurts? Is it your dreams?"

"M-maybe. I-I just know that i-it just started," Mariel whispered. "Th-the dreams s-started wh-when Yomi, Jazz, and I we-were trying to get supplies from her house. I-in th-the dream we were in a crumbling city an-and-and-"

Mariel choked on the words, on the verge of crying. The sudden lack of knowledge on her twin's condition had clearly torn down her strong façade of being the stronger twin mentally. The girl was clearly terrified from her dreams, but Optimus could tell that, had Sam been here, no one would have known that anything was wrong. This clear fact that Optimus noticed worried the Prime, as he had a feeling that Sam might now have thrown up a strong façade himself now. _What on Cybertron could have caused them to be like this? Not even split-spark twins act like this, yet she is clearly extremely dependent on Samuel,_ Optimus thought as he studied the young girl on the verge of crying that he held. She didn't even seem to notice. _If she is dependent on Sam, that may mean he is not as dependent on her, but they act like it is the opposite and that she is merely overly protective..._ Optimus filed the thoughts away to examine later.

"You needn't speak of it if you are unready, sparkling," Optimus soothed, shifting his arm that was around her shoulders just enough so that he could rub her back gently. "I'm sure that being reunited with your brother will help with your headache and your nightmares. Do you recall what I told you about spark-twins?"

The girl blinked, taking a moment to think and try to remember as she managed to calm down. After a little bit, she managed to nod that she did remember.

"I believe you're unconsciously reacting in panic to being out of contact. You two may not share a strong mental bond, but if he's out of range and you're unused to it and have no way to contact him, then it makes sense that you begin to panic. The headache could also indicate that your bond with him is being blocked, something you two are probably unused to since you both probably always have it open, it's just grown weaker over time," Optimus explained to the girl gently.

"Do... Do you think Sammy is okay?" Mariel asked as she sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

"I am confident that your government would not harm a pair of children for merely coming into contact with us," Optimus said. "That does not mean that we shouldn't be prepared for something bad to happen. I have learned that bad things can happen, even if they're just accidents. Therefore, while I'm sure we'll find your brother, do not be surprised if he is somewhat injured."

Mariel nodded, knowing that Optimus was probably right. She took brief, calming breaths so that she calmed down the rest of the way. She opened her mouth to apologize, but it died in her throat when she saw how he was looking at her. It was a concerned, but gentle look that reminded her of when she once got hurt when she was little. Her father had looked at her with that same look and it honestly made her feel like a little girl again. She finally realized how she was being held, but felt no embarrassment. Only safety. She swallowed before snuggling into the Prime and lying her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I don't know why you choose to help me, but I'm glad you snapped me out of it. I'm sorry if I caused any trouble."

"You didn't cause trouble, Little One," Optimus said softly. "I was glad to help. I'm sure Jazz will be relieved to know you've snapped out of your little panic spell."

Mariel nodded and just sat there, making it obvious that she was still somewhat out of it. He knew that she wouldn't full recover until she had her brother back, so she would probably be somewhat fragile until the reunion. He gently held the girl until she fell asleep, then tucked her into the bed before dismissing his holoform. He made sure to mold the bed to her so that she would be perfectly comfortable, relieved that she would be alright for now. He just hoped that they could keep her stable. For her to regress so suddenly and quickly after just a few hours spoke of the trauma separating the two did. This made him believe that they had been traumatized while apart when they were younger- this would account for why they registered as sparklings. They had suppressed memories that they hadn't gotten past yet, memories that likely shaped who they were and had influence on Mariel's actions when it came to her twin.

::Prime?:: Jazz asked, somewhat hesitantly over the comms. **::How... How is Mariel?::**

::She is resting now, Jazz:: Optimus replied, returning to his stoic façade. ::She was merely suffering side affects from being torn away from her twin with no idea of his condition. She is unused to being away from him for hours with danger hanging over them. Even so, she has spent both a night and day away from him, something I do not think has happened before::

::Oh, that makes sense. I hope she can hold out until tomorrow. The sun will set soon and we all need recharge:: Jazz said regretfully.

::Indeed. However, I know she is strong, however, and will adapt to the situation give time. If we are correct in thinking the humans will be holding Samuel and the Cube in the same place, considering what our research revealed, then she will not need to. If we are wrong, however, and we only find the Cube, then I'm sure she will adjust long enough for us to reach her brother:: Optimus informed Jazz.

::You seem confident:: Jazz noted, somewhat hopeful.

::With the proper coaxing, she was easy to get out of her panic. That is why I believe she will adapt quickly:: Optimus explained.

::That makes sense:: Jazz agreed thoughtfully.

The two continued to speak to one another, Optimus telling Jazz about Mariel's breakdown. As they spoke about what could have caused such trauma, Optimus found himself doubting that she would really adapt as quickly as he assured Jazz she would. He could only hope that he was correct and she really would, as he wasn't sure what would happen if she didn't. For the first time in a long while, Optimus found himself silently praying to Primus that Sam and the Cube would be found in the same place. He didn't want to dare think of what would happen should Mariel and Sam remain separate for longer than they already had been. Optimus refocused his rearview mirror onto the sleeping girl, taking note how she finally look peaceful for once. Somehow, though, that just made his spark ache as he knew she normally didn't get such peace. He hoped that would change.

* * *

 **TRANSLATION**

 **Note: Optimus was speaking in the Language of the Primes. He found that younglings and sparklings find the language soothing. Like how I represent Cybertronian with Latin, the Language of the Primes will be represented with Greek.**

 **"Do not worry, sparkling. Father is here, you are not alone. Do not be afraid, I will make sure your brother returns safely."**

 **I hope you all are satisfied with this update. I struggled with the last part for quite some time considering the fact that I have a bad relationship with my own father, thus writing a good father figure tends to be a struggle for me. I was literally up till 1:30 AM just to finally finish this chapter. Also, expect the next chapter of _Unconventional Way to Heal_ to finally be up by this coming Monday, as I swear to you it will be finished by then.**

 **See you all next chapter!**


	9. Chapter Nine: Tension

**Edit: So there wasn't a whole lot of changes made to this. However, it seems that I had mentioned a poll in this chapter for my story "Imaginations the Limit" and weather or not it should be rewritten. I only just posted that poll and planned to announce it next chapter, so I had forgotten about this. Either way, there is a poll up.**

 **Hello everyone. My apologies for such a long time between updates of this and _Unconventional Way to Heal_. I've been struggling with writer's block recently, which has made it near impossible for me to write. I'm doing what I can to work through it, but I cannot make any promises. Before we get on with the chapter, I do have an announcement. I have published a poll. I want to know if I should rewrite my old story, _Imaginations the Limit_ , at some point. I feel that it may be imperative for me to do so since I wrote myself into a corner and made it impossible to make a sequel like so many want, but I want everyone's opinion on it before I make any definitive decisions.**

 _ **REVIEWS**_

 _ **Steelcode: I'm very happy you enjoyed it! I was so nervous when I posted the chapter since I'm not used to writing a father figure in a good light.**_

 _ **Guest: That has already been established that the story requires Jazz to die. I stopped doing the little voting thing a while ago after I realized it is essential to the story. Please pay attention to my Author's Notes and review responses so you can keep up-to-date with that stuff.**_

 _ **monkeybaby: You commented on chapter one, but I'm posting the response here. I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter.**_

 _ **witchpiper91: Are you a fan of Charmed? You seem like you would be. Anyways, what happens to Yomi, if anything does, will happen because of the plot and the advancement of another character.**_

* * *

Mariel yawned for the umpteenth time as she leaned against Optimus' door and window, bored out of her skull and somehow managing not to think too much. The air conditioner was going full blast since it was a hot California day at the moment. Since the Autobots had to account for a human, it was now their third day on the road despite the fact it should have only taken a single day. She both did and didn't understand why they were being overly cautious, but it was boring as hell. Luckily, they were about an hour from the destination, something that she hoped would pass quickly. However, the day had been moving at a crawl since she had woken up and it was like she couldn't think of anything. Her mind felt so... Empty, something she knew it wasn't supposed to be.

It was the separation, she just knew it.

"Mariel."

The seventeen-year-old lifted her head from the window, looking at the driver's seat out of habit. Since it was an open highway with no other cars for miles, Mariel wasn't surprised his holoform was off. She turned her attention to the steering wheel, as it made it feel like she was looking at him more directly. She gave a little "hmm" to show that she was listening.

"I've been meaning to ask," the Prime began, "But have you and Samuel always been so close?"

"Optimus, just call him Sam. Literally no one but Grandma Taylor _ever_ calls him Samuel. It's always "Sam", unless it's me or Mom. Then it's "Sammy". As for your question... Yeah, we have. Ever since I can remember, we've never been separated for long periods of time before. Maybe a few hours or over night every now and again, but other than that..." Mariel paused, trying to figure out how to best convey it. "The last time we were separated for a long period of time was when Sammy broke his arm when I was little. I freaked out because I wasn't allowed to go see him a lot, unlike when we ended up in the hospital a while ago. Sammy was allowed to come see me every day, so I didn't freak out."

"What do you mean by "freak out", Mariel?" There was curiosity in the Prime's voice.

Mariel pursed her lips, unsure how to explain it. "Have you seen videos where children throw these _huge_ temper tantrums over something? Lying on the floor, screaming and flailing as though they're in pain?" she finally asked. When she got an affirmative, she continued on. "It was like that and my parents ignored it. They thought I was just acting like that because, until then, I had been "spoilt" by not being away from Sammy for long. It wasn't until I started to struggle to breath that they realized my freak out was more than a tantrum. I was physically in pain from being separated from Sammy and that was the first time that we discovered that, if we didn't know the condition of the other, we began to feel their emotions and pain. We got to the point we could semi-block this bond and that's kind of why we both forgot about it. It hasn't been completely open since we were twelve."

"I cannot imagine that is healthy," Optimus said after a few moments of silence. "But I can also understand why you two did what you did. Neither of you wanted the other to suffer so much if the other was in some kind of pain. Even so, I imagine you two cannot stand it being completely closed and, thus, cut off from one another."

"Maybe it isn't healthy for Cybertronians, Optimus, but human's aren't _meant_ to be able to do such a thing," Mariel said. "It's why these bonds rarely appear at all- we weren't created with the intention to be able to uphold such bonds. Such a thing would hamper our survival in more ancient worlds. Only recently is it starting to become somewhat more common, as now it won't hamper our survival as a species."

"That does make sense," the Prime agreed. "What was your childhood like?"

Mariel smiled as she answered question after question about her childhood. What her first words were (Sammy and idiot), when she took her first steps, how old she had been when she started to speak. It was relaxing and her mind was taken off of her brother and the oppressing emptiness inside of her head. The two talked for a long time, happily chatting away. Neither was aware of what was going on with Sam at that moment.

* * *

Sam paced around the interrogation room, trying to formulate a plan to get out of there. Banacheck had come and gone again- this time threatening Bumblebee if Sam wasn't more compliant. Mikaela was watching her newfound friend with concern as the boy paced, even muttering to himself. She didn't like this either, but she didn't think that pacing would do Sam much good either.

"Sam, I don't think we can escape," Mikaela said softly.

"We _have_ to," Sam replied. "We can't let them hurt Bumblebee and we can't let them get ahold of my sister. I can't let them."

Sam was an animal in a cage, Mikaela realized. It wouldn't be long before Sam began to lash out, if not at Sector Seven, then at her. She knew she had to help him escape before the cage they were in made him hostile instead of worried and fearful.

"How good are you at faking an illness or injury?" Mikaela asked Sam, watching him carefully and hiding the slight fear she held.

"I once managed to convince my mom and dad to let me stay home from school for a week," Sam replied. "Why?"

"Then fake you're sick," Mikaela said. "They'll send someone down and I'll get the jump on them. Then we can escape."

"You're handcuffed, remember?" Sam snapped, before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I didn't meant to snap."

"No, it's fine," Mikaela assured him. "... How long do you think it has been?"

"I don't know," Sam said. "I'm on edge because of what Banacheck said. I wish we knew how to get out of here."

The two fell into a silence, unsure of what their next action should be. As they sat there in silence, there was a sudden knocking. It was sharp and rapid, causing the due to jump in surprise. After about a minute of the knocks coming, they stopped and something slipped under the door. The two stared in silence for a long time, unsure of how to react. After a moment, Sam cautiously approached what it was. It was an envelope with a slight bulge in it. Sam cautiously picked it up and brought it over to the table.

"... Do we open it?" Mikaela asked after a few minutes of silence with the envelope sitting on the table.

"I don't know. It could be a number of things, like a trap of some sort or a test. Who knows at this point," Sam replied softly.

The two lapsed into silence again, unsure what to do. The envelope itself wasn't all that suspicious- it was plain, normal, and that slightly off-white color most envelopes were. The only crease in it was where the object inside was and it was small, just a bump really. The envelope wasn't even properly sealed, the flap of the opening wasn't even tucked in to keep it closed. It was completely innocent, but that was the problem.

It was _too_ innocent and unsuspicious to be in a place like the base of Sector Seven.

"I think we should open it," Mikaela finally said. "We should at least peak at what's inside, so we aren't caught off guard if it is something bad."

Sam hesitated, but had to agree. Better to be safe than sorry. Slowly, Sam opened the envelope and reached inside. He blinked when he pulled out a pristine, shiny, perfect silver-colored key. It looked like something you might find in a movie to open a pad-lock from the olden days. He frowned and placed it down before reaching into the envelope again, this time pulling out a perfectly folded piece of paper.

 _I'm a bit disappointed, Samuel. I thought Mariel would be the first to get into trouble with Them. I guess it can't be helped. Here's the key to the girl's shackles. I also unlocked the door. Don't ask who I am, you don't know me. I promise, however, I'm a friend and not a foe. I'll be watching to make sure you two get to the Autobot as well as out of this place._

 _-AS_

"Sam?" Mikaela asked the boy, "What does it say?"

"It's from someone called "AS," Sam replied. "It says that's the key to your cuffs and the door is unlocked. Nothing about the cameras."

"That's odd. Why would someone here help us out?" she wondered.

"Maybe they don't agree with wrongful imprisonment of teens who probably don't know anything useful?" he suggested hopefully.

"I guess we'll find out," Mikaela said, looking at the key. "Try it."

Sam nodded and grabbed the key, placing it into the lock on the cuffs. He twisted it, surprised when the cuff came off of Mikaela. He did the same with the other one before Mikaela stood. Both cautiously moved towards the door, glanced at each other, before Sam tried the handle.

It was unlocked.

"This feels much too convenient and cliché," Sam muttered. "How much you wannna bet this'll go wrong within a few moments?"

"A few moments?" Mikaela snorted. "I'd say a few seconds, but I guess we'll find out."

Sam nodded, taking a deep breath. He steadied himself before slowly turning the brass knob once again. It turned, the door giving a soft click as it began to open. There was the faint sound of hinges squeaking as Sam eased the door open a tad, peeking out into the hall way. He spotted the cameras immediately, but the red light usually indicating it was on was off. He took a deep breath and fully opened the door. He glanced back at Mikaela, who nodded encouragingly. Gathering his courage, Sam took a deep breathe and stepped out into the hall.

* * *

Sam wasn't sure for how long they'd been walking, sticking to the walls and cautiously peering around each corner. They had chosen to go in a strait line and see where that led them, both glad they hadn't been caught. Sam was a bit worried about that, however, knowing this place should have been crawling with some form of human life. Guards, maybe scientists, at the least. It felt like being in a horror movie with how still and silent the place was, but Sam was thankful for the stillness and silence. It helped him to keep an ear out for if someone was coming, giving them a better chance to hide before they were spotted. Most of the cameras seemed to be off, which was unnerving and helpful, but it was making Sam believe this was probably a trap. It was too easy, but he didn't comment on it.

The two eventually reached the end of the long hallway they had been walking down, both of their eyes widening in horrified shock at what they saw. Frozen in ice and standing several stories above them was Megatron, who both of them remember from Optimus' hologram explanation. The room itself was swarming with workers, sending a chill down their spine as they glanced at each other. Suddenly, the sudden advances in technology made sense to them both- they were reverse engineering from Megatron, at least when it came to US inventions and it was very likely that people from other countries had found a way to see the US technology, or even Megatron, to improve and advance their own technology.

The two quickly backed off to where they wouldn't be seen and looked at each other. Nothing needed to be same, as they could read the expressions of horror and fear on the other's faces. This was why an alien race would be condemned- human greed. For greed, they would hold teenagers hostage, for greed they would subtly threaten them. Sam swallowed thickly, silently. They both knew that they had to find Bumblebee and escape as soon as they could. They quickly back tracked to the last fork in the path they had seen, the two not hesitating and turning left. They remained cautious, but they were going slightly faster simply because they were now deeply afraid of Sector Seven.

"Sam, how do we get Bumblebee free?" Mikaela asked quietly. "There is likely to be people there..."

"We'll find a way," Sam said shortly, not daring to think about what was being done to his guardian.

Sam couldn't bare the thought of what might be happening to Bumblebee, his newfound best friend. Bumblebee didn't deserve such treatment after all he had done to protect Sam, Mikaela, Yomi, and Mariel. The boy new he needed to save Bumblebee, he just hoped that they could do it without anything going too wrong. All they needed was to get Bumblebee free and the mech would handle the rest. All they needed was a few minutes without interruption for it to work out alright.

The pair came to a half before another large, open room. This one was eerily empty despite how bright it was and it looked like it might hold another Cybertronian. Mikaela and Sam looked at each other nervously, wondering if this was where Bumblebee was. Cautiously, the two inched out into the open to survey the room for any clues as to where Bumblebee was.

Sam turned to look at the part of the room that had been obscured by the wall they had been behind before and felt his breath leave him. Before Sam was the most beautifully crafted piece of metal he had ever seen and it was in the shape of a cube, imbedded into the wall. The sight filled him with awe and terror both, awe because of the majesty of it and terror because Megatron and the Allspark were separated by a _single wall_. That caused a much fiercer chill to go down the back of the boy, who grabbed Mikaela's attention.

"They're insane," Mikaela said, trembling. "That shouldn't be so close to Megatron!"

"I know, I know," Sam agreed, his eyes wide as he forced himself to not trembled.

 _ **"Do not be afraid."**_

Sam stiffened at the familiar-sounded voice that sounded in his head. It was gentle, almost loving in tone and was distinctly female. It was about then that he also noticed a soft, gentle pulsating that seemed to emanate from the Cube.

 _ **"You are safe here and Megatron cannot reach me. Even if he were to awaken, the constant freeze keeps him locked in place. Unless there was a power failure, he could not reach me."**_

"Sam, what's wrong?" Mikaela asked, taking note of how stiff Sam had suddenly gone.

 _ **"You seek my final guardian, Bumblebee. He is the last one online who knows my Song. You need him if you plan to retrieve my motionless form. He can coax this body I currently inhabit into a smaller form, one you can carry."**_

 _M-me?_ Sam thought, not paying Mikaela any attention. _Why me?_

 ** _"Because you are very important to the coming battle. Please, swiftly retrieve Bumblebee. I shall use what I can of my powers to keep their security systems offline, but I cannot do it for long. This form has kept me weak and it does not help that they forcefully siphon my power."_**

Sam slowly nodded at what the cube was saying as Bumblebee's location was given to him. "Come on, I know where Bumblebee is."

"Wh-what?" Mikaela asked as Sam grabbed her wrist and dragged her back down the hallway. "How?!"

"That's not important right now! We have bigger problems in the next room over than my sudden knowledge!" Sam responded, moving at a much swifter pace than before.

The two soon came into a room that gave them both the chills after passing the hall that led to Megatron. Bumblebee was there like Sam had known, strapped down to a stone slab of some sort. The Autobot either didn't notice them or thought it was more S7 people come to bug him, but Sam didn't hesitate in running to his new best friend. He ignored all the obvious torture/experimentation equipment and was at Bumblebee's side in an instant.

"Bumblebee!"

The mech's attention and blue optics snapped right to the relieved Sam, relief also flooding the blue optics as Sam worked to get the mech free of his bindings. Mikaela soon came over to help them.

"Both the cube and Megatron are in this complex Bee," Sam said. "We'll take you right to the Cube, then we can regroup with the others."

Bumblebee nodded as they worked to get the mech free. They had just finished and Bumblebee was rising off the slab when it happened. There was a shout of alarm, causing the teens and Bumblebee to snap their attention to the entrance of room where Banacheck and Simmons stood with some army men along with a man and woman behind them.

* * *

Moments before the attack happened, Mariel had felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and chill go down her spine. This caused her to look behind them and spot a helicopter flying much too low to be piloted by any human. Just after she registered a missile about to be launched at them, her eyes went wide.

"DECEPTICON!" she shrieked in fear. "There's a missile heading right for us!"

Luckily, the comms had been on broadcast through just their little convoy and all the Autobots swerved out of the way in time. The road was empty and before she knew it, Mariel was on the side of they highway next to Yomi, both girls watching in fear as the Autobots engaged with the helicopter con, who quickly transformed. Barricade soon joined the fight as well while the girls did their best to stay out of sight and hide, which was hard on a wide open highway going over wide-open plains without a hint of foliage or structures for miles around.

As the road and ground was being torn up by the fight, the two girls were constantly on the move to avoid being hit. Mariel had enough time to notice that Jazz stayed as close to the two as he could so he could intercept anything that would head for them.

"Mariel, I know this is probably not the best time for bonding, but, should we make it through this, want to go see and make fun of an action movie?" Yomi suddenly asked, electing a hysterical laugh from Mariel.

"Sure. While we're at it, we might as well see a horror movie and mock it!" she added, causing Yomi to laugh.

"Yeah, like anything is more terrifying than this at this point!"

"Should we have pizza or go to a restaurant afterwards?"

"Pizza. Who buys?"

"It'll be on me. Dad may act cheap, but I should be able to weasel at least a hundred bucks outta him!"

The two girls couldn't help but laugh as they avoided the fight, trying to mask their fear with thoughts of the future and jokes. Neither wanted to admit that they were certain they were going to die. Mariel just hoped that the battle would end soon and that, if she really was going to be killed by an alien war, she could see her brother at least one last time.

 _Please hold on Sam. I promise we will see each other again, even if it takes my last breath to reach you._

* * *

 ***takes a deep breath* Finally finished this one as well. Perfect. I'm so happy that I could complete them. *smiles* We're almost at the Mission City bit. Hey, mind if I ask for names on what to call the battle at Mission City? Anyways, have a good day!**


	10. Chapter Ten: Calm Before the Storm

**Holy shit you all. I'm so very sorry! I didn't plan to leave this sitting for months on end! *wide eyed* Crap - I swear I haven't abandoned it! I've been sitting on this chapter forever! I have no excuses - I'm so sorry! Anyways, I'll try to work extra hard on this chapter to make up for it! Now, before you go and read the chapter, I have a quick little announcement. I did some editing on the earlier chapters. The Prologue is different now and we now have one less chapter since I combined two chapters into "The Boomerang Effect" chapter** **. Since I made these changes, you may want to go back and do some re-reading.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Do I seem like a company of any kind to you? I'm just an obsessed fangirl. That said, stay away from Mariel and Yomi. They're mine.**

 **REVIEWS**

 _ **Steelcode: I'm glad that you're enjoying this. First Cyber War is an interesting name, but I don't think it fits, honestly.**_

 _ **Guest: I can't really go through with my plans if Ratchet dies. Haven't decided for Ironhide just yet. Depends on how his survival or death would affect the plot and character development.**_

 _ **NightCourtRuby: I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story. ^_^ I'm also quite flattered that you enjoy it enough to do that.**_

* * *

When Captain William Lennox was debriefed on these so-called 'NBE's' and told he was going to be seeing one, designated NBE-2, up close after getting an afar view of NBE-1, he had not expected there to be a pair of civilians in the room. He most certainly didn't expect the alien to be unbound or for said alien to pull out a pair of guns in his servos and crouch over the two civilians while pointing the guns at him and the group he was with.

"What- how-" Agent Simmons spluttered, looking at the two in shock. "H-how the ever living _hell_ did you two escape your containment room?!"

"You kidnapped civilians?" Lennox immediately pounced, rounding on the man. "You _kidnapped_ , not just a pair of civilians, but a pair of _teenagers_?!"

"Captain," Banacheck cut in smoothly, his voice grating on Lennox's nerves. "They were under threat of being kidnapped by the NBEs. In fact, Mr. Witwicky's sister has already been kidnapped by them, so-"

"It's not kidnapping if we were going with the 'Bots of our own free will," the boy civilian snapped, causing Lennox to feel a flicker of pride at the boy's bravery. "Besides, if I recall, you barged into _my house_ , arrested _my family_ and _dog_ , and forced us, handcuffed, into your vehicle! On top of that, when the Autobots _rescued us_ , you just sent an entire SWAT team after them!"

"He's just a boy," Banacheck said, looking at Defense Secretary Keller. "He doesn't understand what he's talking about-"

"Bullshit!" the boy called, glaring at Banacheck. "You were _interrogating_ us about what _weapons_ they had! You were demanding answers _after_ I explained that there were two factions! Hell, you're keeping the one that wants to take over the _fucking universe_ next the object that will _help him achieve that_!"

"So that Cube is a weapon?" Simmons immediately pounced.

"Alright, I've heard _enough_ ," Secretary Keller interrupted. "Banacheck, Simmons, I do not believe that you have the authorization to take anyone into custody without notifying the proper channels first. Besides, I highly doubt, if they were in danger, this boy would stress about a difference between some of these aliens and others."

"This Cube," Lennox started, looking towards the boy. " _Is_ it a weapon? How can it help NBE-1 if he gets out of containment?"

"It's not _meant_ to be a weapon," the boy huffed. "I'm not at liberty to explain what it actually _is_ , however. Also, 'NBE-1's _proper_ designation is Megatron. He leads a faction bent on universal domination called the Decepticons. This is Bumblebee, an Autobot - the good guys - and my guardian."

"Your guardian?" Lennox asked, taking in the yellow 'Autobot.'

"Yeah. See, when my grandfather found ol' Megadirt, he accidentally activated the guy's navigation system. That's what drove my grandfather insane, because Megatron tried to, err, download the coordinates to the Allspark _into_ my grandfather's mind. They were also imprinted on his glasses, which is why Cybertronians became interested in me. Bumblebee was sent by Autobots to keep me safe from Decepticons who wanted the glasses until the other Autobots arrived. The _plan_ was to just hand over the glasses and be done with it, but then S-7 got involved and things went downhill from there," the boy explained. "I'm Sam Witwicky by the way. Who're you? I know your military, just, well, not much else."

"Captain William Lennox," Lennox said, introducing himself. "This is Sargent Robert Epps. That man there is Defense Secretary Keller."

"You know what they're looking for and about them," Keller said carefully. "If it was just a retrieval mission, why tell you?"

"They correctly guessed that I, and anyone else involved, would get freaked out by suddenly being ambushed by a group of alien robots. So they explained why they needed the glasses to make it easier to convince me to hand them over," Sam explained.

That made sense to Lennox, who nodded. He looked at the yellow Autobot, realizing the Autobot was, while armed, only leaning almost...protectively over Sam and his companion. It seemed that the Autobot, while unwilling to drop his guard, realized there was no immediate threats. Lennox could respect that, especially if the yellow alien was charged with caring for the boy.

"Kid - err, Sam," Lennox said. "You were clearly trying to get out of here. What were you planning to do?"

"Take the Cube, 'Bee, and flee," Sam replied honestly. "Get as far away from here as we can with the Cube, before something goes horribly wrong - don't look at me like that, I've seen alien horror movies! Something is going to fail and Megadouche is gonna get out, then we'll _all_ be fucked! - and make sure the Autobots do whatever they need to do to protect their relic. They were probably planning on leaving the planet, but I can't be certain."

"I can see your point," Lennox said, "Though how were you planning on getting out? I mean, from the sounds of it, this "Cube" is likely being guarded and they managed to capture your friend here once before..."

"It's only because Bumblebee didn't want to hurt anyone," Sam explained. "Yes, they're different, but they're not mindless killers."

Lennox took brief note of the shock from the girl next to the boy as well as the way that Banachek's eyes had narrowed at the kid. It would seem that kid had originally been withholding information, but wasn't currently doing so for some reason. Even so, Lennox didn't focus on that as he turned to the Sector Seven agents.

"I believe," Lennox said, "that it would be in everyone's best interest if we help the kids in their plans. They're right, there is no guarantee that things won't go wrong. Especially if you're keeping a warlord next to an object that he wants, even if you believe they're secure. On top of that, by the sounds of it, we should be expecting, uh, Bumblebee's-" a glance at the kid informed Lennox he had gotten the name right, "allies to come looking for him and this object. I doubt that they would take kindly to this whole operation."

"Captain Lennox would be correct," Secretary Keller agreed, turning to the agents. "I believe the wisest course of action would be to let them go free. I most certainly _will_ be bringing up everything that is here with the President, Agent Banacheck."

"Of course," Banacheck agreed, shooting Simmons a "stay quiet" look. "Come, Secretary Keller. I'll show you the room we use to contact the outside."

Lennox watched as the man left with the Secretary and the two civilians that he'd brought with him. Lennox turned back towards Sam, his friend, and Bumblebee.

"Well, we should probably get a move on," Lennox said. "I honestly want to see this for myself. I'm curious how he could possibly move that giant thing."

* * *

When Mariel suddenly sat up from where she was, once again, curled on the bed in Optimus's cab, gasping as though someone had suddenly drenched her in water, Optimus knew that they were close to their destination. Mariel's bond with her twin had clearly just come back into range, causing her to light up with happiness and relief, her entire body relaxing. The young girl ignored the multiple scrapes and bruises that she had acquired thanks to the attack from Barricade, Starscream, and Blackout earlier. Luckily, neither she or Yomi had sustained severe injuries, though Mariel's leg still flared with pain as if she had re-agitated the muscles that were still healing from the last time she got it hurt.

It was hard to believe that, already, it was the third day since he had met the twins. Almost a week and a half since Bumblebee first came into contact with them. It somehow felt like it couldn't have been that long while also feeling like it had been much longer than that. It was something that Optimus had never experienced before and wondered if humans were used to such a thing. Perhaps they were, but he couldn't be certain.

"Mariel?" he prompted the young girl, who immediately turned to 'look' at him.

"Sam's safe," she said, relief saturating her voice. "Sam's safe. I can feel it."

Optimus said nothing as Mariel broke down in her relief, crying from how overwhelmingly relieved she was that her brother was _safe_. She could feel caution, uncertainty, hope, and, most of all, a feeling of relief over something. She wasn't sure why she was positive these feelings meant that he was safe, but she was absolutely _certain_ that he was. She felt that little corner of her mind, dedicated to her brother. She tried to reach through it, not quite sure she was doing it right. To reassure him that she was coming, that they were almost there. She couldn't tell if it worked, but was too relieved to care weather or not her attempt to reach him worked.

"I just...hope that...that he doesn't get himself into trouble again," Mariel finally managed to say, wiping her tears as she limped up front. "But knowing him, he will. He's such..." she hiccupped here, voice slightly cracking, "a trouble magnet. I can't leave him alone for five minutes, I swear."

"I believe that he and Bumblebee are quite alike in that regard, Mariel," Optimus chuckled softly.

"Oh?" Mariel asked as she recovered from her breakdown. "Did you know Bumblebee when he would have been considered Sam's age?"

"Mariel, Bumblebee _is_ the equivalent of the age you four young ones are at," Optimus chuckled.

"Really?" Mariel asked, eyes wide. "I mean, sure, he's more childish than you, Ironhide, or Ratchet, but...Jazz..."

"Bumblebee was one of the last to be sparked-born-before we sent the Cube off-world," he explained. "The planet was already dying then, though I don't think it truly died until after we sent the Cube off-world."

"Did...you help raise Bumblebee?" Mariel asked, curiosity shining in her blue eyes. "All you Autobots-just by your actions-seem rather close-knit."

"Yes, I had a hand in his raising," Optimus had a smile in his voice. "Bumblebee and the others of his generation...they were our light, a reminder of what exactly we fight for. The innocent, the ones that Megatron would repress and take the happiness away from."

Mariel had noticed how the happiness in Optimus's voice had died, but didn't say a word.

"Megatron preaches 'peace through tyranny'," Optimus' tone suggested that Megatron had not always been that way, "while the code of the Autobots is that freedom is the right of all sentient beings."

"That sounds a lot like what happened a while ago on Earth," Mariel commented softly. "Just on a much smaller scale. One of the many things to come out of the American Civil War was the end of slavery in America."

"Humans seem to enjoy war," Optimus noted. "Why is that?"

"I don't know," Mariel shrugged helplessly. "Human nature, I suppose. I mean, technically we _are_ still animals and thus still live off of 'survival of the fittest', just not in the same way anymore. Technically, every choice a human makes is based of the fight-or-flight response. Like my decision to help you that Sam, Mikaela, and Yomi went along with. That was a fight response."

Optimus hummed in thought at that. It was an interesting way to look at the world, but not all that untrue for humans. Optimus wondered if there was some basic instinct that explained away Cybertronian action and thought. He wasn't really sure about that.

"... You said that Bumblebee was one of the last to be...sparked..." she tested the unfamiliar word on her tongue, her pronunciation a little off, "before the Cube was sent off-world. Does...that mean that..."

"All he knows is the war?" Optimus finished for her. "Yes, it does. He and his generation have only know the war. Cybertron was less of a home to them and more of a giant battlefield. It is all they have ever known, though I long for them to have a place to call home."

"Wouldn't the Allspark help you revive Cybertron?" Mariel asked, brows furrowing as she glanced from the window to his steering wheel. "I mean... You guys clearly need it as it would help with mass-repopulation by the sounds of it... I mean, it sounds powerful and..."

"That is...true," Optimus agreed, but did not answer her question directly. "Though, there is nothing to say that the team here on Earth is the last of the Autobots, just as there is nothing to say that the Decepticons we ran into before are the only Decepticons on Earth."

"That doesn't answer my question," Mariel pointed out.

Optimus did not respond, getting Mariel to narrow her eyes at his steering wheel. She then rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Fine then. If you won't answer that, then answer this: why do you guys act so weird around us?" she asked. "You act kind-of like Dad at times with me, same goes for Jazz with Yomi. On top of that, your gentleness with us-the gentleness all _five_ of you show-makes me feel like a toddler."

"Upon arrival to this world..." Optimus paused, as if searching for the correct words to explain. "My systems received an...alert of sorts. Like a notification popping up on a computer. It asked me if I wanted to activate my 'Sparkling Protocols'. Think of it as being asked weather or not I wish to turn on my paternal instincts."

That sounded extremely weird to Mariel, but they _were_ , technically, robots so... Okay, maybe it was only weird because she couldn't do that. However, having that ability would be interesting. At least then she would know what kind of parent she might turn out to be.

"Out of curiosity, since my scanners were not picking up any life-signals from a sparkling, I turned them on to see what they were identifying as sparklings. It was then that I realized that the human race, for some odd reason, was being identified as a race of sparklings rather than a race of organics I'd never come across before," Optimus continued. "It was rather...odd...since my protocols had never gone off for an entirely different race before. At the time of meeting you, Sam, and the other two, I was the only one who had the protocols turned on. You two were the first that I came into direct contact with after turning on the protocols so..."

"Your protocols basically demand that you take care of me and Sam while we're in your custody?" Mariel guessed when Optimus seemed unsure of how to explain it further. "It sounds like you guys hold sparklings in high regard, so you're basically babysitting me, right? I would normally be offended and insulted, but I guess it can't be helped. So is that why Jazz is acting the way he is towards Yomi? He turned on his protocols and she was the first one he came into contact with?"

"Indeed," Optimus agreed, seemingly relieved.

Mariel had to stop herself form raising a brow at the relief in his voice, inwardly realizing that that wasn't exactly right. Her explanation made sense, but Optimus's tone suggested that it was something else and he had managed to get away with not explaining it. She decided she would pretend to be none the wiser and returned her attention to the rolling landscape.

 _I wonder what Optimus is hiding...both regarding the Allspark and why he acts so fatherly towards me..._

* * *

 _I wonder what Optimus is hiding...both regarding the Allspark and why he acts so fatherly towards me..._

Sam's head snapped up from where he was sitting, waiting for the Autobots to arrive. That had been Mariel's voice, but it hadn't sounded right. He scanned the area around him and realized exactly why it had sounded off. It didn't sound like it came from anywhere around him, it sounded almost like he had said it. That didn't make sense, though.

 _What the hell?_

/ _Sam?!_ /

Sam jolted when he realized what had just happened. He was _hearing Mariel inside his head_! His eyes were wide at the thought and he didn't know what to feel or think about it.

/ _You and me both, Sam. You and me both._ /

\ _Okay, seriously, what the fuck? How is this possible?!_ \

/ _No idea, but we're almost to your location. How are you? Are you okay? How's Bumblebee and Mikaela? Is anyone hurt? Were you experimented on? Interrogated? Did they-_ /

\ _Woah, sis! Calm down!_ \ Sam knew she tended to panic when separated from him, but didn't realize it got this bad. \ _I'm fine, Mariel. No one is hurt and S7 attempted Interrogation, but it didn't work._ \ He told her about the escape and the soldiers. He also told her about the Allspark and how Bumblebee made it shrink.

"Sam?"

Sam looked to see that Mikaela, Lennox, and Simmons were all looking at him in confusion. He realized that he had probably surprised them with his sudden movements a moment ago.

"I'm fine," he said. "But the Autobots are almost here."

"How do you know that, Kid?" Simmons asked, voice suspicious as he narrowed his eyes at Sam.

"I just do," Sam rolled his eyes as he stood, going over to where Bumblebee was waiting.

Sam knew that Bumblebee had the Cube, but he was confused at where he had put it. Sam didn't think that Autobots had pockets, but there was always the possibility that they did. He looked up at the bot, knowing that he had heard. He saw the questioning in Bumblebee's optics and he quietly said he'd tell Bee about it later. He was still trying to process the fact he had a mental connection to his sister, who was still fretting over him. He wished that she would lay off sometimes, but knew that she never would.

Sam's thought process was cut off by what sounded like an explosion and the sudden reappearance of Banachek and Secretary Keller. Both of whom looked rather pale and scared, though Banachek also looked oddly excited about something. Sam didn't need Bumblebee to blare something from the radio, he already knew what had happened. Megatron. Sam quickly rounded on Bumblebee.

"We have to leave, now!" Sam said, "We have to protect the Cube. We'll pass the others on the way somewhere safe, I'm sure. We have to leave now, though!"

"Kid's right," Lennox agreed and started to bark orders.

Sam ignored the man as Bumblebee folded down into his alt. mode. Sam quickly got in, buckling up as Mikaela also got in. She wasn't as sure of what was happening, but had realized she needed to trust Sam. Soon enough, they were driving away from the dam. He was relieved, as he noticed something land at the dam shortly after they left. He had a bad feeling about it.

/ _Sam, what happened?_ /

\ _Megatron woke up. We'll likely pass you all on the way out._ \

/ _I'll give Prime a heads up. See you soon, brother._ /

Sam certainly hoped that they would see each other soon. The dream he had had early came to mind and he felt dread in his stomach. He hoped that wasn't going to happen, he knew he couldn't leave her behind. In the end, he knew there was little he could do about whatever was going to come. He just prayed - to whom, he didn't know - that they would all make it out of this alive.

* * *

 **Geeze. That took forever for me to write! Yikes. Anyways, next chapter is the battle at Mission City! I'm both excited and terrified to write it. I hope I can do it justice! I'm going to try to give it a semi-fast pace, to reflect the fact that it's a battle, without it seeming rushed. Not going to be easy, I'm positive.**

 **Poll Progress:**

 **Six Votes to rewrite _Imaginations the Limit_**

 **Zero Votes to keep it as it is.**


	11. Chapter Eleven: Ground Zero

**Honestly, I wish that these stories didn't have the stigma that they do. I might actually have more people interested, but oh well. Probably doesn't help that the movies are apparently hated just for existing. *shrugs* Whelp, time to work on the chapter with the fighting. _Yay_. *sighs* Sorry if I don't sound overly excited. These kinds of scenes are hard to write, especially since I haven't written a scene like this since I was writing _Imaginations the Limit_. Whelp, here we go.**

 **Oh, but before that. A quick announcement. I won't be changing the story's title, but I will be adjusting the story's summary. The reason is because the original summary didn't fit. I'll show both summaries right here. I also changed made a change to - are they character tags? I'm not sure what to call the option of placing four characters on display. Anyways, I changed Megatron to T. Banachek because Banachek is a little more important to this story than Megatron.**

 **Original Summary: Mariel Janet Witwicky never realized that she was the odd one out when it came to humanity. She always assumed that was her twin brother, Sam. At least, until she's dragged into an alien war by her brother, his crush, and his new car-alien-friend. Now Mariel must face a corrupt Government Group to save the world from a power-hungry warlord. Oh joy. [Rated for violence and cussing]**

 **New Summary:** **Mariel figured there was more to life than simply fending off bullies from her brother. She just didn't expect it to come from her brother's new, beat-up Camaro. Now stuck between new alien friends and the government, Mariel can only hope to find a silver lining at the end of the storm. But why, oh why did Sam have to be involved?**

 **NightCourtRuby: *giggles* Glad that you're happy with the update.**

* * *

Everything had happened so quickly, Mariel wondered how she even knew that the town was called Mission City. Well, it wasn't a town but that was beside the point. She looked around, amazed at how deserted the street was. She wondered if someone had managed to somehow evacuate this part of the city but didn't ask as she soon spotted her brother. She quickly went over to him, pulling him into a strong hug.

"Sam," she breathed, too relieved to properly express herself.

"Mariel."

That was all she needed - she could hear, could _feel_ his relief as if it were her own. She closed her eyes, just letting herself know that he was _here_. She didn't get long before the soldier - Lennox, she thought she heard him being called - called for attention. She turned her attention to him as she stood with her brother, her girlfriend, and Mikaela to listen to what he had to say.

"Alright, so this part of the city should be evacuated," Lennox said. "Secretary Keller sent out a possible Terrorist Attack warning to get them out. Back up is on the way and the Air Force will be called in as well. We chose this city because of the way it was built - plenty of places for us humans to use to our advantage so that we can help you Autobots out."

"I do not like that your kind is getting involved, but I do not deny that the Decepticons out way us in numbers," Optimus sighed. "So thank you for being so willing to help. However, they will focus in on the Cube, which we need to find a way to get out of her and hide."

"A chopper is on its way to pick up the civilians," Lennox motioned to Mariel, Mikaela, Sam, Yomi, and the two that Mariel wasn't paying attention to. "They can take it with them to protect it. The chopper is appearing further into the city, by that building over there. The civilians will need to climb to the top, but it's the safest choice for them."

Optimus nodded and turned to Bumblebee, who turned to the kids. Mariel could feel Sam's hesitance to take the cube as well as his reluctance to flee. She understood how he felt - the Autobots were their friends, no matter how short their time together had been. Mariel watched her brother accept the cube, barely taking note of a pulsating washing over her. She swallowed as she realized that she was going to be separated from her giant friends and suddenly felt far less safe, though she wasn't sure why since she had been separated from them before.

Maybe it was because, this time, it was a voluntary separation. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Jazz, so she could say goodbye, reminding herself it was only temporary.

"You...you'll be careful, won't you?" were the words she managed to say instead of a 'goodbye for now'.

Jazz's smile didn't fool her, though. She could see it in his posture - he wasn't sure that there would be no casualties. He couldn't promise her anything, not in a war. _War_. It hadn't really hit home until now that her friends were in a _war_.

"Of course I'll do what I can to be careful," he tried to reassure her.

She got the feeling that he knew it hadn't really worked. Licking her dry lips, she looked to where Sam was talking with Bumblebee. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mikaela speaking to Ratchet and she wondered when they had gotten close enough to talk. Then again, she had been riding with him for the last while. Finally, Mariel approached Optimus. Her approach was slow, and she faltered a few times, questioning herself on why she felt like she was being separated from her father. She froze. Oh _god_. Her parents.

How worried were they? They probably had called the police and filed two Missing Persons reports. Her mother was probably freaking out and her dad... She tried not think about it, but now that she had remembered, she suddenly felt sick. Homesick. She wanted to go home, she wanted to turn around and forget any of this happened.

She couldn't though. She remembered that she had volunteered not only herself, but Sam, Yomi, and Mikaela as well. This whole time she had been asking ' _why Sam_?' She was why. She had dragged him along on what she had thought would be a fun adventure, not once thinking of the consequences. This was all _her fault_. Sam had been kidnapped because of her. Bumblebee probably wouldn't have gone through whatever they had been doing to him if it wasn't for her decision to put the burden of protecting four children onto these soldiers.

What had she been thinking? How had she not realized the consequences of her actions until now? The world seemed to fade away, her chest feeling shallow and like a void was opening. She could dimly hear a voice but couldn't seem to focus on it. She couldn't think beyond the realization of what she had done. How could she be so utterly, selfishly _stupid_?

Mariel found her thoughts and panic being broken through when the ground suddenly disappeared from beneath her. She squeaked in shocked surprise and her head snapped up, breath slowly evening out as she realized that she was sitting in Optimus' servo. She found herself unable to look away from his Egyptian blue optics, optics that held a deep sympathy and sorrow in them.

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a time of our choosing, Mariel," he said to her, voice soft and the static undertone barely within her hearing range.

Mariel wasn't sure why that reminded her of her family's motto that her father had drilled into her and Sam since they were little, but his words did. She swallowed thickly, knowing she was still shaking, and gave the only reply that she could.

"No sacrifice," she whispered. "No victory. Please come back for us, Optimus Prime."

"I will," Optimus murmured, promising her even though she knew it was unfair of her to ask this of him.

He set her down and she managed to stand on her own. She turned to her brother, dimly away of the stares they were getting by the military boys. She swallowed again before forcing herself to grin her 'Let's fuck with people' grin.

"Come on, Sammy," she said. "Let's get that thing out of here."

She knew he could see her fear, her anxiety. She knew that no one was fooled by her attempt to put her façade back up, but no one called her out on it. She watched him nod and she turned on her heel, finding the large building with her eyes. It was the one with statures on the top, statues that looked like angels. As they walked, she began to feel more and more apprehensive. The city was too silent, far too silent. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she found her pace quickening. She was aware of the other five civilians following suit, as if they too sense what was coming.

Mariel found her hand being held by Sam as she began to feel the pulsing of her heart in her head. She briefly looked back over her shoulder, noticing that an orange smoke was now filling the area. They were only a few buildings down, really, but further down than she had thought they would be in such a brief time. She returned her attention to the street in front of her just as the ear-piercing sound of a jet reached her. It sounded far too close for comfort and she could feel down their bond that Sam had the same feeling of dread that she did. For a moment, it was as if the world around her slowed as a shout from Ironhide reached her ears.

"It's Starscream!"

It was as if she had been waiting for the sound of a gun, a runner waiting for the signal to run. The moment the name left Ironhide, she instinctively knew by his voice that it was trouble. She and the others took off running, forcing her to let go of her brother's hand. She kept him in the corner of her eye, afraid to leave his side for even a moment. She heard the whistle of something flying, but there was no time to react. She didn't hear the impact, but she felt it. Her entire world went flying as she was flown forward, a sharp pain going through her.

When her world stopped spinning and her body stopped feeling as though it had been impaled, she stumbled to her knees. Her vision was blurry, her balance was faulty. She could see Sam, just to her right. Mikaela was to her left. Somehow, she was facing back towards the Autobots and the military men. She could vaguely make out Banachek's face, but her attention was drawn to the horror in his eyes. Like he had seen something he hadn't expected. It was as if a flip had be switched and she gave a pained cry as noise suddenly came back to her world.

Gunfire sounded, and she realized that the Autobots were engaged in battle. She couldn't tell where everyone was, she just knew that they were fighting as she looked around, trying to get a sense of the world back. Her heart stopped as she realized what had happened, her gaze landing on a charred, mangled body. She instinctively knew who it was, something inside of her breaking and a cry wanting to tear itself from her throat.

Sam was suddenly next to her, his eyes wide with fear as he tugged on her arm, pulling her away from what she had seen. Even so, she could not un-see it, even as Sam shouted for her to move above the noise of the battled that had suddenly exploded into existence. She finally tore her gaze away and stumbled after her brother, who kept a tight grip on her arm. She had lost sight of Mikaela and the others, all she knew was what she had seen and that her brother was right in front of her. Her mind refocused itself, her focus shifting to her brother as she was suddenly running. She didn't stumble, and she kept her pace with him.

As they ran, the building was getting closer and closer. The ground shook as it was rocked by the battle and she heard what she knew was buildings collapsing beneath the weight of the giants that fought. It had all happened so fast and she didn't know what to think. She couldn't think. Her mind had taken a back seat, her body working on autopilot as a deep, animalistic instinct to _flee_ took over.

She and Sam skidded to a stop, her eyes blown wide as she and Sam moved to get out of the way of a jet that transformed. _Is this it?_ briefly flashed through her mind as she and her brother ducked for cover while it skidded to a stop. She was suddenly glad that so many cars had been left behind, giving them some sort of cover to use as the giant Dorito-looking decepti- wait.

Her mind froze as she processed that last part and looked at the Decepticon again, who was now getting his ass kicked by a pissed-looking Ironhide. She tried to process what it looked like, but was yanked back to reality when Sam pushed her, calling for her to keep moving. She could make fun of the Decepticon once it was out of hearing-range.

As she and her brother were on the move again, she found that the battled suddenly seemed closer. She realized that it was probably just stray missiles and bullets, but it still pushed her to run faster as they headed for the tall, white building. She couldn't help the scream that left her when a car next to them suddenly exploded, followed by what sounded like an animalistic growl.

"Give me the Cube, Boy!" a voice, rough and dark snarled at them.

"Sam-"

"Keep running," her brother barked at her and she found herself nodding along.

The Cube. They had to protect the Cube, no matter what. Just like she had to somehow protect Sam no matter what, even if she felt completely powerless. They kept running, even as Megatron hurled snarled insults and demands at them, while chasing them. She got the distinct impression that he was getting sadistic pleasure from this, that he thought this was all just a fun game.

 _I wonder if his current mindset was brought about by so many years at the mercy of humans,_ she couldn't help but wonder. She felt a brief spark of pity before she snuffed it out. He was the enemy and he would kill her and her brother if they weren't careful and swift. They kept running and running, a sense of relief rushing through her when they crossed into the building.

They were able to pause to briefly catch their breath, watching the entrance warily. They were even more afraid with the delay of their pursuer.

"Wh-which way are the stairs?" Sam asked, trying to catch his breath.

Mariel scanned the abandoned building around them. She soon spotted them and pointed them out. Neither spoke as they rushed to the stairs and quickly began to climb. She growled in irritation when they had to cross a wide-open hallway to reach the next set of stairs, the two sprinting to make it across. Mariel shrieked as the floor behind them erupted, pain exploding in her back as she felt something swipe at her. She tripped up, slamming into Sam. She wasn't sure how they didn't fall over, but she pushed him forward, wanting him to reach the stairs even if she didn't end up doing so.

"Maggots!" the warlord barked, venom in his static-filled voice. "Come back here!"

The climbed the next set, Mariel starting to feel extremely winded. Her legs were starting to go numb and she could tell Sam was ready to collapse with exhaustion as well. She pushed at his back as they climbed, knowing they both needed it. They couldn't stop, not yet. She kept her brother going, reminding herself that there were only a few stairs between them and certain death.

"Keep going," she breathed, mostly to herself.

"I can smell you," the warlord chuckled, voice far too close for comfort.

 _It's like a horror movie,_ she thought, tears of fear welling in her eyes as she found a reserve of adrenaline she hadn't known she had. She watched as Sam also put on more speed, the two soon bursting onto the roof. She very nearly tripped, but managed to keep herself from falling over. She ran with Sam to the edge of the building, the two soon skidding to a stop. She gasped for breath, lungs burning for air that she hadn't noticed she'd lost. She looked at Sam, who was staring at where they'd come from. Why was it taking the Warlord forever? Did he know they had nowhere to go? Probably.

"Sam, did...did that soldier...did he give us a...a way to signal...signal the chopper?" she asked, slowly getting her breath back.

"I..." Sam checked for anything, but all he came up with was the cube. "Shit. No, he didn't."

Mariel also swore, wishing she hadn't let herself get distracted with good-byes. She glanced at the way they'd come from, horror coursing through her as she watched the roof below them crumble and collapse as Megatron dragged himself up. She turned and pushed Sam towards the statue. / _Go_ / she urged her brother down their bond. He looked at her, wanting to protest. He glanced at the Cube before nodding at her and climbing around the statue, clinging to it. She could feel his fear and knew he could feel her own.

She turned her back to the statue, ignoring the stabbing pain in her left arm as she stared at Megatron, doing her best to stand between him and her brother. She had to protect Sam somehow, though she wasn't sure what she could do at this point.

"You've no where to go," the large mech growled. "Give me the Cube and I shall let you live...as my _pets_."

A shiver settled down her spine. From Sam's end of the bond, images of Megatron frozen in Sector Seven's headquarters. The comforting pulsating that she had been feeling since being reunited with her brother seemed to become a pounding in her mind. The way Megatron had said pets... No, he wanted to do to them what had been done to him by humans. She knew this and couldn't fathom a time when he was someone else. No one started out evil, but she couldn't imagine this psychopath ever having been _innocent_.

"Never," she chorused with her brother, knowing that he had a similar train of thought to herself.

Red optics seemed to flicker, as if he was mourning them though she couldn't fathom why she got that impression. His hand shifted, a spiked ball-like form took shape. His other hand took it, drawing it out onto a chain that was fairly short. _A flail_ , she recognized from her history class. As he raised his weapon, she closed her eyes and braced for the pain.

"Then _die_ ," the mech growled.

Neither of the Witwickys could stop their screams as pain exploded through them and they were thrown from the building. Air whistled around Mariel, the pain almost blocking out everything else in the world. Something was wrong with her arm-was it broken? She couldn't feel the bottom half of it, so she assumed that it must have been hurt somehow. She wasn't given the chance to ponder it, crying out in pain as she slammed into something metal. It was a wonder her back didn't break.

"Easy," a familiar voice soothed. "I got you."

Mariel peeled her eyes back open, realizing she and Sam were being cradled in Optimus' large hand. He was holding them against his chest, relief in his optics.

"Hold on," he told them. "It's going to be a rough ride down."

He was right about it being a rough ride down. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain going through her as he used the buildings as a way to slow his descent. The back and forth he did was making her feel dizzy for some reason, but it could just be a side effect of the adrenaline starting to fully wear off. She screamed when they were suddenly torn from the building, Optimus' hands shielding them. Everything hurt when they landed, hard. It took a moment for her to be able to lift her head and open her eyes again, though she only cracked them open. Why was the world swimming so much all of a sudden?

"You two would sacrifice yourselves to protect the cube?" Optimus asked with a touch of awe to his voiceprint, as if he hadn't expected it.

"No sacrifice, no victory," Sam said breathlessly, echoing the words she had said just before the battle began.

"Then, should things start to go...further south," Optimus said, pausing as if he had to check for an appropriate human phrase, "push the Cube into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to destroy it."

Mariel wanted to open her mouth, to argue with him that it would be a bad idea to do that (Megatron would win, if he did that), but found that it took far too much effort for her dizzy mind to accomplish. She heard the sounds of Megatron shifting-why was he just now getting up? Had he taken a harder fall somehow?-and knew that she couldn't get the energy to refute Optimus' words before the other mech was on his pedes. _Where are all these terms coming from?_ she wondered, realizing she wasn't using terms she normally would. At least the pounding had started going back to a pulse now, like a heartbeat again.

"Get behind me," Optimus' tone left no room for argument.

Mariel stumbled after her brother, struggling to stay upright with the way the world was spinning. Something was wrong, why couldn't she see straight? Why was she so faint, so dizzy? She found herself leaning against a wall, sliding down. She could see the blurry images of two titans fighting, the explosive sounds of buildings crumbling and metal clashing fading into a distant roar. At least the pain was starting to dull, now.

She wasn't sure what happened next, as if her brain had briefly shut down. Her mind was brought back to reality when a spike of pain traveled up her left arm. Looking down at it, she felt like her heart skipped a beat. The pulsing was stronger, but now, with each pulse, a sharp pain like being shocked went through her. Somewhere, she heard someone yell her name. She couldn't quite understand what her mind was seeing. The voice shouted again, this time sounding like it was right next to her, yet still somehow faint. _Sam_ , she thought and raised her head. Why was her head so heavy all of a sudden?

She saw him then, his face slightly blurry and she felt his panic through their bond. Why was he panicking? She wasn't sure, but she felt rather tired. _A nap won't hurt,_ she thought, eyelids sliding closed. What harm was there in a little nap?

* * *

 **Well, I'm finally done with this chapter. I just realized how close it is to school starting. About two weeks for me. Gods, I'm not ready for that just yet. Anyways, I'm guessing people are too busy or just don't want to review since I only got one review on the last chapter I posted. Then again, I did do some rewriting so I probably threw some people off and they didn't realize I'd posted a new chapter. Either way, I'm glad that I have my stats to check on how my story is doing and it's still doing relatively well. Anyways, I think this chapter turned out rather well.**

 **Hope the next one will go just as well. Also, my poll is at six people wanting me to rewrite imaginations the limit with zero wanting me to leave it alone. Hope you all have a good rest of your day/night! Oh! I also hope that the new summary is better than the old one!**


	12. Chapter Twelve: Aftermath (Pt One)

**Hello my lovely readers! I would like to inform you that I have completely rewritten the prologue and I would appreciate it if you went back and read it. You don't have to, of course, but it would be appreciated if you did! Now, welcome to chapter twelve! I hope that you all enjoy this chapter! ^_^ Also, I would like to note that this chapter will have to do a bit with medical stuff. I have tried to research it as best I can, but since I've never experienced any of this, I can't say for certain what would actually be going on here or how this would actually be laid out. Please bare with me for this part.**

 **SHOUT OUT (something I keep forgetting to do)**

 **To Steelcode, whom helps me keep this story going by giving me ideas and helping me catch mistakes.**

 **REVIEWS**

 _ **NightCourtRuby: I kind of hope your reviews will be a regular thing. I like to read reviews and yours are interesting. And this one was just plain hilarious.**_

 _ **Steelcode: *rubs that back of neck* I swear your goal is to give me a permanent blush. But I'm glad you were happy with the end result.**_

 ** _lolistarkiller: You have a very interesting and unique username. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!_**

* * *

The steady sound of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room. A window separated them and all he could do was watch what was happening. Their parents were off somewhere, getting debriefed or something like that. He didn't care, the only thing that he paid attention to was the silence in his mind and the beeping that echoed. She was on life support, though he didn't know why they had her isolated like this. This was the first time he had been allowed to see her since they'd rushed her into the care of the military's paramedics. He didn't know why he had been kept away for so long or why she was here like this. Yes, she had sustained a horrible injury and lost a lot of blood, but surly not enough to place her like this, right?

"Samuel."

Sam turned his head, taking in the holoform that had just entered the room. Sam took his hand off of the glass and turned fully towards the Autobot leader. He had so many questions, but didn't know where to start as the holoform walked over. As Optimus came to stand besides Sam, looking into Mariel's room, Sam found himself also turning back to her. He had been so afraid that she had died, but now that he knew she was still alive, he wanted to know why he had been kept away. Mission city had been a week ago, after all.

"I know you have questions, Samuel," Optimus said, his voice soft and gentle. "I will try to explain what you're seeing before you start asking, though. When Mariel was rushed into...I believe they call it the 'ICU', it was discovered shortly after that, somehow, a shard of the Allspark had been imbedded into what remained of her arm. She was immediately placed into this isolation room. She was finally cleared of any potential radiation early this morning."

Sam took in the way Optimus seemed to not want to look at him. There was something else, Sam was sure of it.

"The Allspark shard that imbedded into her arm...there were side-effects to it come in contact with her biology. It sank completely into her arm by the second day, but the side-effects didn't stop," Optimus said softly. "It wasn't until about two hours ago that we finally stopped detecting the signal the shard was giving off, actually. And even then, that doesn't mean that it isn't still in her system."

"Optimus, what was the side-effects?" Sam asked, worried.

Optimus paused before he began to speak again.

"You're parents are currently being told all of this by Captain Lennox. I requested to talk to you about this myself, seeing as the two of you were in Autobot care for most of everything that happened," Optimus said. "The side-effects of the Allspark shard...was changes to her very biology. Any piece of loose metal in the room was pulled towards her, as if by a magnet, and began to fuse to what remained of her arm. The metal liquified when it did and began to reshape itself. On one hand, this immediately stopped the blood flow and saved her life. On the other... We're still not sure how this will end up effecting her in the long run. Especially since the shard's power mutated the metals and formed it into Cybertronian technology. Nanites, which act similar to blood cells and other cells for us Cybertronians, have been discovered in her. Because of these findings, Ratchet has been involved in helping monitoring her health."

Sam didn't know what to think about this. His sister's very biology was being changed?

"So that shard gave her a new arm," Sam said, trying to understand this. "And gave her nanites. What does that mean for her?"

"We weren't sure at first, but the nanites appear to have begun doing something to the rest of her arm. We've been trying to figure out how to keep them from accidentally harming her, since they aren't meant for organic life," Optimus replied. "My guess is that they are attempting to adjust her biology to properly support her new prosthetic that has finished forming. It has been decided to keep her unconscious until we are certain that no harm will come to her from this and so that her body can finish adjusting to the changes being made. We fear that her body may experience too much stress if she were to be awake and attempting to move around."

"That doesn't explain why she's on that breathing support thing," Sam whispered, wishing he knew the right name for it.

"Precaution," Optimus explained. "After this point, she shouldn't need it, but we still did almost loose her a few times due to her body's struggle to replenish the blood she lost. Even with the blood drips. We believe the struggle came from the changes being made to her biology by the shard and her body's inability to properly process what was happening."

"But... she's going to be okay now, right?" Sam asked, looking at the leader.

Optimus paused before he said, "She should be, but we must always be prepared for things to go wrong."

Sam didn't like the sound of that, but knew that Optimus was right. He turned his eyes back to his sister, blinking back the tears he wanted to let fall. The silence from her was even more unbearable now that he knew, as he watched the doctors attending to her. She was so still and her breathing was rather shallow. He could hear her heart monitor and could see the blood drips kept there to be safe. He could see the breathing mask on her face and her eyes remained closed and motionless. A part of him was terrified that she would never wake up, that the changes had been too much for her to handle.

 _I can't think like that,_ Sam told himself. _She's going to wake up. She has to wake up._

"... Why were we kept away?" Sam finally asked. "I know you said the radiation, but..."

"...Your government, in all honesty, did not want to allow you to see her. They wanted to report her as dead to you and put you and your family into protective custody," Optimus admitted to the boy. "Captain Lennox, his team, my Autobots, and I knew that this would not be the correct action. We convinced them that you should be allowed to know the truth and that no action should be taken until Mariel's condition has either been healed or..."

Sam didn't need Optimus to finish that sentence. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to process what he had been told. He swallowed thickly, trying to keep from breaking down. The government had wanted to cover it up. They hadn't wanted to tell him and his family what they deserved to know. Why? He felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and turned back to Optimus, who had a look of deep sorrow and sympathy on his face.

"I know what it is like to be put in this position, Samuel," Optimus said softly. "I know that the words seem meaningless, but there is little that I can offer you besides an apology. We approached the two of you, but we should have made do without the glasses. I truly am sorry for bringing this upon your family."

Sam didn't answer, for he didn't have anything to say. He turned back to the glass. He didn't look at Optimus again, even as the holoform left. He kept his eyes on his sister, taking note of how she was constantly monitored by the doctors. He closed his eyes and backed away from the glass, back to the opposite wall. He slid to the floor and curled up, finally allowed himself to cry. This was the cost of getting involved. Being chased by an evil cop care seemed so much better now. Why had they gotten involved? Why did she have to do the right thing of helping them? They should have just gone home.

* * *

Optimus sighed as his holoform was dismissed and he stood up from where he had rested his original form. He began walking to where he was to meet Captain Lennox, reflecting over everything that had happened. In a week, so much had happened. They had been brought to a military base off the coast, a place called Diego Garcia. Optimus and the government had been corresponding quite a bit, beyond what he had told Sam about trying to keep the Witwicky family from being split up.

So far, it was looking like the government would be giving Diego Garcia to the Autobots to use as a base. That would be good, especially since many of the Decepticons had escaped and there was the possibility of more showing up. They were also arranging a liaison to keep contact between the government and the Autobots beyond the Autobots correspondence with the military. General Morshower, Lennox's superior, was actually also corresponding with Optimus, requesting that a human team be allowed to work alongside the Autobots.

Optimus understood why they wanted this - the Decepticons were a direct threat to humankind, so it was only natural that the humans would want to get involved to protect their own. Optimus still had his concerns and was discussing the possibility of a special training unit being set up to ensure that those who joined the human team would be ready for facing Decepticons. Nothing was set in stone just yet, but Optimus had hopes that this alliance that was being forged would work well.

When he arrived at the hanger that Lennox had requested they meet at, he settled down and turned his holoform back on. There were a lot of hangers on the island, a surprising amount given it's size. However, it was nice to be able to move around without worry too much about the sparkling-sized humans. Optimus felt both glad and guilty about this, as well as how much he kept himself busy so he wasn't constantly asking about Mariel's condition. Ratchet had snapped at him quite a few times, but he couldn't help it.

He had forgotten what it was like to have his protocols active and be a sire. Granted, he had no actual claim to her, but he was hoping to get to the point where he could request to act as her and Sam's legal guardian when they were on Diego Garcia. He was aware that he would first have to spend what would likely be years gaining the trust of his parents, whom he had yet to meet. He knew he would likely have to meet them at some point, but it seemed like life had chosen to keep him from meeting them so far.

Walking into the right room, his holoform sat down. He was still getting used to using it, as it was quite odd to suddenly see things on a more level field rather than tower over them. He was just glad that he and his team had vorns upon vorns to learn how to keep things professional and to not show when something disoriented them.

"I see you arrived before I did, Prime," Lennox said as he walked in and over to the table.

"Yes," Optimus inclined his head. "I feel that Sam...took the news relatively well. Far better than I expected him to, at the least."

"It sounds like you had far more success than I did," Lennox sighed. "Their parents are far from happy with everything that has happened. I took them so they could see their daughter before coming here. The mother, Judy, kept screaming at me. It was hard to explain everything. The other girl, Mikaela, vouched that the four of them had gone with you all of their own will, but I doubt the twins' parents will accept that. If it wasn't for the fact that Mariel is here, I don't doubt that they'd accept the protective custody and let themselves disappear, like with those other two civilians - I think their names were Maggy and Glen?" The soldier shook his head. "Anyways, once Mariel has completely recovered, the government is going to talk to the family about them going into protective custody. I talked to Secretary Keller and, apparently, the twins have the ability to decline since they're only a few months away from turning eighteen."

"Is eighteen an important age amongst humans?" Optimus inquired, curious.

"Yes," Lennox nodded. "At 18, they're officially considered adults. There are still a few restrictions they have until they turn twenty-one, of course, but eighteen is when they're able to legally start doing a lot of things that kids can't."

This intrigued Optimus, as it sounded like there were two separate ages for adulthood. This actually sounded a lot like how Cybertronians counted frames. Eighteen appeared to be the first adult frame for humans, while twenty-one was the second adult frame. It also appeared that they only had two adult frames. Optimus filtered this information away so that he could more closely examine it later. It was honestly quite jarring to deal with humans, who were quite a shocking species. They proved to be extremely resilient, yet still extremely fragile. Mariel's injury had been his first wake up call to just how fragile humans were.

If a Cybertronian lost an arm, it wasn't that big a deal. They might loose a little energon, but that was easily replaced. The arm itself was easily replaced as well and in war, a new 'model' could be used with some upgraded built-in weapons. It was jarring to learn that with humans, not only could a lost limb not be replaced, but it could also be potentially fatal. It made even Ratchet realize that just researching and learning _how_ to do something didn't mean that one understood _why_ that was needed to know.

Optimus had almost had a spark attack when he realized just how close to losing his (unofficially) adopted sparkling. Had Sam been in the vicinity when he realized this or before he had calmed down, he likely would have "kidnapped" the boy for a while to ensure that he was safe. It had taken a lot of effort to not find out where Sam and his parents were being kept just to ensure the boy was safe.

"Is this all we needed to discuss?" Optimus inquired, taking a moment to glance at the clock. "I have a meeting with General Morshower very shortly. He and I need to discuss what has been done about covering up what happened at Mission City and how to handle telling the families of the casualties about the deaths."

"No, there is nothing else we need to discuss, Prime," Lennox sighed. "I wish you luck on dealing with that. We will be arranging funerals, won't we?"

"We will," Optimus nodded. "We may be giving the bodies back, but that does not mean we cannot pay respects on our own."

"Indeed," Lennox rubbed his face. "I don't imagine how they're going to cover up that girl's death... Her name was Yomi, wasn't it?"

"It was," Optimus sighed. "Samuel doesn't know about her death yet... I can't imagine how I will tell him, let alone his sister once she awakens."

"You really take the fact that they were in your care seriously, don't you?" Lennox chuckled weakly. "Honestly, it's hard to remember that you all are aliens when you act so...human."

"I have come to find that, despite our differences, we still have many similarities," Optimus observed. "Besides, we understand loosing our own to battle."

"You...did loose a comrade in this one, didn't you? I apologize," Lennox sincerely said.

Optimus shook his head. He looked at the clock again before he stood up.

"I really must be going now, Captain. Until next time," Optimus said before dismissing his holoform.

Lennox stared at the spot where the holoform had been standing, waiting until the tremor's from Optimus's footsteps were gone. He then chuckled again, shaking his head. Honestly, he had truly forgotten he wasn't talking to Optimus face-to-face. He was starting to see where the paranoia of the government was coming from - Cybertronians truly were masters of adapting to ensure their allies felt completely at ease with them. Even so, he knew that they could trust the Autobots. _After all,_ Lennox reflected. _If they truly had ill intent, they would not go as far as to convince us that they cared for the children_.

Lennox honestly felt lucky to know such aliens, even if he struggled to remember that they _were_ aliens.

* * *

 **Whelp, chapter done! What's this? Mariel's in a coma?! Well, looks like we're going to be stuck with seeing the world from the focus of other characters until she wakes (if she wakes). Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will continue with Optimus and what he's up to. I certainly hope you enjoyed this one, though!**


End file.
